Woman duped of 61.74 Lakh in Digital Arrest Scam for 8 days

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

A 55-year-old woman was held under digital arrest for eight days by cybercriminals who extorted Rs 61.74 lakh from her.

The woman resides in Ulkanagari with her elderly mother. Her husband, who worked in an international company, passed away during the COVID period. The scam began on March 4 when she received a call claiming to be from the Colaba Police Station. On the first day itself, they interrogated her for 4 hours, asking about her bank accounts. The caller falsely informed her that her bank account had been linked to Naresh Goyal, a suspect in money laundering and drug trafficking. She was told a CBI investigation was underway and was sent a fake CBI letter via WhatsApp.

Under threat of physical harm, the woman complied with the criminals' demands. They kept her on a 24/7 video call and demanded money to “verify” her accounts. On March 12, she transferred Rs 45.30 lakh, which they confirmed by sending a receipt. The call continued until the payment was made. The fraudsters also coerced her into taking a gold loan of Rs 5.5 lakh. On April 9, the same person called again and borrowing Rs 1 lakh from a self-help group, which she handed over. The criminals siphoned the money through accounts at IDFC, IndusInd, Bandhan, North East Small Finance, and Utkarsh Small Finance Banks. Over a 36-day period, they defrauded her of Rs 61.74 lakh. A case was filed at Jawaharnagar Police Station on Tuesday, confirmed Cyber PI Shivcharan Pandhare. This is part of a larger trend, with 12 individuals in the city, mostly elderly, falling victim to similar scams since January. Many of the victims are government officials.