Senior citizen loses ₹33L in ‘digital arrest’ scam; 2 held

The alleged fraud began on June 30, when the complainant received a call from a person claiming to be from the Department of Telecommunications

MUMBAI: A Santacruz senior citizen allegedly spent two days under “digital arrest” after fraudsters posing as telecom, police and CBI officials convinced him that he was linked to a ₹6.68-crore money-laundering case and made him transfer ₹33 lakh, police said. The West Region Cyber Police have arrested two men, Junaid Ansari and Imran Shaikh in connection with the incident.

Senior citizen loses ₹33L in ‘digital arrest’ scam; 2 held

The alleged fraud began on June 30, when the complainant received a call from a person claiming to be from the Department of Telecommunications. He was allegedly told that his Aadhaar card had been blocked and that he was involved in anti-national activities. The call was then transferred to someone posing as a Delhi Police official.

The caller, who identified himself as Rajesh, allegedly collected the complainant’s details before transferring the call to a man claiming to be an IPS officer named Sunil Gautam.

The fraudsters then allegedly spun an elaborate story involving a man named Sandeep, who they claimed had been arrested in a money-laundering case involving ₹6.68 crore. They told the complainant that ₹1.68 crore of the money was linked to him.

The accused allegedly claimed that Sandeep had 180 bank accounts, passbooks, debit cards and Aadhaar cards and that a ₹21,000-crore case had been registered. The complainant was also told that the investigation was being handed over to the CBI.

The intimidation intensified when a man dressed in a police uniform appeared during a video call. He allegedly told the complainant that the investigation would be conducted through video conferencing and that he had been placed under “digital arrest”.

He was warned against telling anyone about the proceedings and allegedly threatened with seven years in prison if he violated the purported investigation protocol.

The complainant remained on WhatsApp with the fraudsters for two days and was allegedly pressured into transferring ₹33 lakh. Even after receiving the money, they allegedly asked him to sell a flat in Pune and transfer more funds.

That demand raised his suspicions and he approached the Western Regional Cyber Police Station. Police registered a case and began tracing the digital and financial trail.

The police registered a case and initiated an investigation. During the probe, the police obtained technical information, based on which they arrested Junaid and Imran.