Bengaluru woman loses ₹31.83 crore to elaborate digital scam over six months: Report

A 57-year-old woman from Bengaluru fell victim to a sophisticated digital arrest scam, losing ₹31.83 crore over six months.

A 57-year-old woman from Bengaluru has become the biggest recorded victim of Karnataka’s “digital arrest” racket, losing an extraordinary ₹31.83 crore over six months, police said. The Indiranagar resident, a senior IT professional, was manipulated and monitored by cybercriminals for half a year before they abruptly vanished.

Manipulated by cybercriminals posing as law enforcement, the Bengaluru woman's ordeal began with a fraudulent call about a suspicious parcel.(Pixabay/Representative)

Her nightmare began on September 15, 2024, when she received a call from someone claiming to be from DHL, said a report by the Deccan Herald. The caller alleged that a parcel addressed to her had arrived at the company’s Mumbai hub containing multiple passports, several credit cards and banned narcotics. When she denied any link to the shipment, she was told her phone number appeared in the case. The call was then passed to a man impersonating a CBI officer, who warned her that she was under suspicion in a criminal investigation.

The scammers instructed her not to contact police or lawyers, claiming that the “actual offenders” were watching her and might harm her family, said the report. With her son’s wedding approaching, she followed their instructions. She was placed under a fake “house arrest,” forced to remain on Skype with her camera on, and monitored by men identifying themselves as CBI officers Pradeep Singh and Rahul Yadav.

On September 23, Singh questioned her via Skype from a hotel and told her to declare all her financial assets to what he said was the RBI’s Financial Intelligence Unit. Terrified, she broke her fixed deposits and liquidated other savings, transferring ₹31.83 crore through 187 transactions. She was assured the money would be returned after verification by February 2025. She even received a forged clearance certificate on December 1, shortly before her son’s engagement, the report said.

The fraud continued until March 2025, when the criminals cut contact on March 26. She filed a complaint only on November 14, citing shock, her son’s June wedding, international travel and illness. Police have launched an investigation and may hand the case to the CID due to the massive loss, the report stated.

HT.com has not independently verified the authenticity of this information.