Officials from the Central Crime Branch (CCB) have arrested a man in Bengaluru who pretended to be an Income Tax officer and swindled money from many. The 24-year-old accused, identified as John Kajiche, hails from Dhimapura in Nagaland. He was staying at Ejipura in Bengaluru.

John would call up victims and by pretending to be an Income Tax officer, would collect their personal details, including the OTP number, which he would then utilise to withdraw money from their bank accounts. He had moved to the city a few months back and was living in a rented apartment in Ejipura. He used to carry out the crime along with another associate.

The duo would call up unsuspecting victims under the guise of being I-T officers, looking to update information about income tax returns. If a victim seemed to be convinced by their ploy, the two would continue the charade until they were able to extract the personal information they required. He would send them a link, stating that the information was needed to update their IT returns, and procured all the necessary data in this manner. This information was later used to withdraw money online from the victim’s bank account.

As per a complaint filed by one victim on December 15, the accused had sent him a link. Within minutes of clicking on the link, Rs 2.2 lakh got deducted from the victim’s bank account. Based on this complaint, CCB officials began an investigation and were able to arrest John, though his associate is yet to be apprehended. Police have also asked people to be alert and cautious of giving out their personal details.

Police reportedly said that John had opened up a new account in a private bank on December 14, which he used for these activities.