“Main Rakesh Asthana bol raha hoon (This is Rakesh Asthana speaking),” a resident of Gariahat heard a man say during a WhatsApp call from an unknown number, the first of a series of fraudulent calls that led to the victim being cheated out of Rs 48,500.
The caller introduced himself as “IPS officer Rakesh Asthana” from the CBI and asked the Gariahat resident to contact the “Kolkata branch” of YouTube to pay a certain amount to prevent his videos from being uploaded.
There is indeed an IPS officer named Rakesh Asthana, who has served as commissioner of Delhi police and special director of the CBI. He is now retired.
“By invoking the name of Rakesh Asthana, who has served in several important positions, the caller succeeded in making his false claim sound genuine and convincing the victim to make the payment,” an officer in Kolkata police said.
The profile picture of the number from where the WhatsApp call was made was that of a cop. Once the payment was made, it was replaced with the photograph of a woman, the officer said.
That made the Gariahat resident realise he had just conned.
The complainant, who works in a private company, told The Telegraph that last week he was on a WhatsApp video call with a friend when he got another WhatsApp video call from an unknown number.
“The calls from the unknown number were coming in quick succession and I was disconnecting every time as I was speaking to a friend who recently underwent surgery. When the calls did not stop coming, I decided to press the accept button. The screen was blank for a few seconds. I disconnected the call,” the complainant, who did not wish to be named, said.
A few minutes later, he received another call from the same number. The caller introduced himself as “Rakesh Asthana”. “He said he was calling from Delhi on behalf of the CBI. When I hesitated, he asked me to Google his name. I was assured that I was indeed talking to a CBI officer. He told me that he has checked my background from my local police station and found that I have a clean slate. But, apparently, YouTube has found some objectionable content featuring me and had reported it to the CBI before uploading it,” the complainant said.
Despite knowing that such content could not exist, the complainant panicked as the call was from “the CBI”.
The caller gave him a phone number and said that he should contact the “Kolkata branch” of YouTube at once to prevent the content from being uploaded. The man called the number and was told that he would need to pay Rs 11,500 to “open the lock” on the content, which has reached the social media platform. “I transferred Rs 11,500 immediately. Then I was told that I needed to transfer the same amount again because there was a technical glitch. I paid again,” the man said.
A few minutes later, “Rakesh Asthana” called him again to inform him that he needed to pay Rs 25,500 to remove “376” from his name.
Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code deals with the offence of rape and carries the maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
“He said: Beta, tum achhe ladke ho. Abhi de do, pura refund ho jayega, sirf 500 rupay katega (Son, you are a good boy. Pay now and you will get the entire amount back minus Rs 500),” the complainant said.
He paid as told.
A few minutes later, he again received a call from the number which he was told was that of the Kolkata chapter of YouTube. This time, the caller demanded another Rs 15,500.
At this point, the man realised that something was amiss. “I checked the WhatsApp number from where ‘Rakesh Asthana’ had called. Till now, there was a photograph of a police officer in uniform in the profile picture. But now, I saw that a woman’s picture has replaced it. I realised I have been duped,” he said.
The man reported the matter to Gariahat police station last week.