A 40-year-old doctor from Noida’s Sector 77 was defrauded of ₹59.54 lakh by cybercriminals who posed as officials from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The suspects allegedly held her in a “digital arrest” for approximately 48 hours between July 15 and July 16.
The victim, Dr. Pooja Goel, reported the incident to the Noida police on July 22. According to Vivek Ranjan Rai, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) for Cybercrime in Noida, the fraudulent activity began on July 13 when Dr. Goel received a call from an individual pretending to be a TRAI official.
“The doctor received a call from an unknown male caller who claimed to be a TRAI official. The caller then connected her to someone pretending to be from the ‘Tilak Nagar police station, Mumbai’. He informed her that an FIR had been registered against her there, along with an arrest warrant for allegedly circulating obscene videos from her phone number,” said Rai.
The fraudsters further implicated Dr. Goel in a supposed money laundering investigation. They pressured her to join a video call where they threatened her with severe consequences, including potential abduction of her daughter, and placed her under virtual arrest, restricting her mobility for the duration of the ordeal.
“The callers coerced her into staying connected to her computer for two days, only allowing brief personal breaks. They threatened her and her family and demanded that she transfer all the money in her bank accounts to a given account under the guise of verifying transactions to clear her name,” Rai added.
Dr. Goel complied and transferred ₹59,54,000 from her accounts to the fraudsters’ accounts between July 15 and July 16. It wasn’t until July 20, when she attempted to reach out to the fraudsters as they had promised a refund, that she realized she had been deceived when they no longer responded to her calls.
Upon realizing the fraud, Dr. Goel reported the incident to the police on July 22. She expressed concern over the potential misuse of her personal information, including her Aadhaar card details and photographs.
A First Information Report (FIR) was registered at the cybercrime police station in Sector 36, Noida. The case has been filed under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including sections 308(2) for extortion, 319(2) for impersonation, and 318(4) for cheating, along with relevant sections of the IT Act.
“The unidentified suspects are being pursued under these charges. Police teams have been assigned to apprehend the culprits,” ACP Rai stated.
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