
New Delhi: The incident began in August 2024, when the woman, identified as Neeru, searched online for her monthly dose of prescribed sleeping pills. After placing an order on a website, she soon received a call from someone claiming to be an officer from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). The caller accused her of purchasing banned substances and warned of imminent legal action.
To make matters worse, the scam took a sinister turn when Neeru received a WhatsApp video call from four men posing as government officials. One of them played the role of a ‘good cop’ who convinced her that the situation could be resolved peacefully. He persuaded her to share her mobile screen and open her bank account app “for verification purposes”.
Unaware of the trap, Neeru complied. Within minutes, she began receiving debit alerts — transactions ranging between ₹5 lakh and ₹10 lakh — rapidly draining her account. When she tried to reach out to the ‘good cop’, his phone was found switched off.
Realising she had been duped, Neeru approached the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSCO) Unit of the Delhi Police's Special Cell on 24 September 2024. After months of investigation, a breakthrough came on 24 June 2025, when the police arrested one of the accused, Akhilesh, from Mukherjee Nagar in Delhi.
During questioning, Akhilesh admitted to his role in the scam, revealing that he and his associates — identified as Amjad, Shahid, and Shakeel — had orchestrated the fraud by manipulating Neeru into unknowingly handing over access to her bank account.
The police continue to investigate, with more arrests expected in connection with this growing wave of tech-enabled financial fraud.