Mumbai senior citizen duped of ₹3.8 crore after month-long 'digital arrest'
'Digital' arrest scams involve fraudsters posing as law enforcement officials, intimidating victims into transferring their savings by telling them they are in trouble with the law
A Mumbai-based senior citizen was duped of ₹3.8 crores after cyber criminals posing as police officials kept her under 'digital arrest' for nearly a month.
'Digital' arrest scams involve fraudsters posing as law enforcement officials, intimidating victims into transferring their savings by fabricating scenarios that suggest illegal involvement of the victim.
Also read: Police won't arrest you on video calls: 14C advisory
The modus operandi
A 77-year-old homemaker, who is residing in South Mumbai, got a WhatsApp call from an unknown number stating that the parcel she had sent to Taiwan was seized. Five passports, a bank card, 4 kg of clothes and MDMA drugs have been seized, claimed the caller.
The cyber fraudster also sent a fake notice with a Crime Branch stamp to the woman to make it all look authentic. According to the caller, her Aadhaar card details had been used in the alleged crime and she needed to speak to a Mumbai police officer.
The phone call was then transferred to a fake police officer who claimed that the woman's Aadhaar card was linked to a money laundering case under investigation.
Also read: Digital arrests: ED files charge sheet, home ministry issues advisory
Transfer money
She had to download the Skype app to speak to a police officer. After which, two officials appeared asking her for her bank details and demanding she transfer the money to the bank account numbers they shared.
They assured her that they will return the money when she is proved innocent. She was warned not to disconnect the call nor tell anyone about the case.
Also watch: What is 'digital arrest'? The scam that PM Modi warned about in Mann Ki Baat
The woman was kept on the call for 24 hours and if the call got disconnected, the scammers would call her again and threaten her.
At first she transferred ₹15 lakh. These calls went on for nearly a month and she sent a total of ₹3.8 crores. After not hearing about the money and the case, the woman shared the news with her daughter, who asked her to complain to the police.
It is then she realised she had fallen prey to a cyber fraud crime.
Also read: How a mid-20s woman lost Rs 1.5 lakh after a five hour ordeal with cyber scamsters
