Raj Kundra: Fraudsters use Raj Kundra case as bait to dupe victims of lakhs | Hyderabad News

HYDERABAD: Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty’s husband, businessman Raj Kundra is the new bait cyber fraudsters are using to dupe victims in Hyderabad. Fraudsters posing as police officers are threatening people by claiming that their names were being linked to a money-laundering case in which Kundra was involved. Victims were asked to pay up if they didn’t want their names to be made public.
Kundra has been accused of creating and distributing porn films through apps and was arrested in Sept 2021.He is currently out on bail.

At least two cases where fraudsters used Kundra’s name and extracted money have been reported to the Hyderabad cybercrime wing. ACP R G Siva Maruthi told TOI, “We urge people to be cautious and report any such calls immediately to the police or the helpline or the national cybercrime reporting portal to prevent falling in the trap and losing their hard earned money.”
In the first instance, an 80-year-old man from Secunderabad was duped of Rs 15.86 lakh after fraudsters claimed he was a suspect in a money laundering case related to Kundra. The caller claimed to be the station house officer of Andheri in Mumbai and said that the case was serious. He threatened to pass on details to the CBI.
Then, another person claiming to be a CBI officer in uniform appeared on a video call. He threatened the victim with arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He also threatened to seize all his assets, including his wife’s jewellery and house, and implicate his children.
The fraudsters claimed the victim was involved in a national security issue and warned him not to share the issue with anyone to avoid dire consequences. They claimed to be monitoring him and asked him to keep the video call on until they completed all transactions. As a result, the victim transferred funds from his fixed deposit into his savings account and made an RTGS transaction.
In the second case, a 32-year-old man from Secunderabad first received a WhatsApp call purportedly from the telecom department, which was then transferred to a fake CBI office. The fraudster informed the victim that his Aadhaar card details had implicated him in a money laundering case related to the Kundra case.
They then asked him to share his screen and transfer money from his account to prove his innocence, assuring him that the amount would be refunded after verification. The victim transferred Rs 10 lakh only to realise that he was duped.