Thane-based student gets back Rs 5L lost online to ‘Ireland official’

THANE: Thane police helped a city-based student recover Rs 5.2 lakh that he lost to an online fraudster who posed as a government official from Ireland.
The 24-year-old Thane student pursuing higher studies at Dublin University in Ireland lost Rs 5.2 lakh to a cyber fraudster who forced him to transfer the amount to keep it ‘safe’ from hackers. The student, who holds a joint account with his mother in a Thane bank, received a call on September 23, and the caller identified himself as a government officer from Ireland. The caller told the victim that since he had visited some objectionable websites prohibited in the US, he had been exposed to hackers who could now siphon off his savings from his bank account.
The imposter then convinced the victim to transfer the money to his account as a preventive measure. When the student informed his mother about the transfer, she immediately registered a complaint with the Chitalsar police station. “After the case was registered, investigators sought details of the bank account where the victim had transferred the money. As the probe widened, it was learnt that the account belonged to a branch in New Delhi’s Rohini sector,” said Dr Vinay Rathod, DCP (zone-5).
Police immediately communicated to the bank through e-mail and informed them about the fraud. They were told to freeze the account and transfer the amount back to the victim’s account. Action was taken in the nick of time since it woud have been difficult to recover the money had the accused transferred it to another account, said a police officer.
Police are now trying to identify and trace the accused involved in the crime.