CBI-like email id used to con businesswoman; three arrested

New Delhi : The CBI has arrested three members of a gang, which allegedly extorted money from a businesswoman in Mumbai posing as its officers and even created an email id having the agency's domain name, officials said on Friday.

A search was under way to nab the kingpin of the gang, Viresh Pathak, who had posed as the SSP of Anti-Corruption Branch of the CBI, Delhi, the officials said. Abhishek Singh alias Abhishek Jha and Shivanshu Sharma who were going to collect the extortion money from Mumbai were arrested on Thursday and Mohammed Irshad Ansari who created an email id like that of the CBI was arrested from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, they said.

Spoofing in Information Technology refers to disguising an unknown communication as a genuine one. The matter came to light when a woman approached the CBI with a complaint that some of its officials had been threatening her and demanding money.

She said they were making adverse report in some enquiry being conducted by the agency in which another law enforcement agency had already finalised its report. They were calling her and sending WhatsApp messages demanding Rs 10 lakh, the woman alleged.

She said Pathak had asked her to send business documents and personal details on an email id similar to that of the CBI, the officials said. During investigation, the CBI found that the phone numbers from which the woman had received calls were registered on fake names and addresses.