In a shocking case of cybercrime, a senior citizen from Maharashtra’s Palghar district was duped of ₹3.5 crore in a ‘digital arrest’ scam, where fraudsters posed as officials from the Mumbai Police and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The incident occurred between December 18 last year and February 10, police officials said on Wednesday.
According to Palghar Superintendent of Police (Rural) Balasaheb Patil, eight individuals have been arrested in connection with the fraud. The arrested suspects include three siblings and were nabbed from different locations — four from Nagpur (Maharashtra), three from Ankleshwar (Gujarat), and one from Bhantara in Aurangabad (Bihar). Seven of the accused are currently in police custody till April 9, while the suspect from Bihar is expected to be produced in court on Wednesday.
How the scam unfolded
The victim, whose identity has been withheld, was first contacted by a man claiming to be a Mumbai police officer. The caller falsely accused the senior citizen of involvement in illegal advertising and harassment activities. The victim was then connected to another individual posing as a CBI lawyer, intensifying the psychological pressure.
The fraudsters threatened the man with arrest and warned of potential harm to his daughter if he did not cooperate. Under duress, the victim transferred ₹3.5 crore into various bank accounts to avoid the supposed legal consequences.
Authorities have successfully frozen ₹22 lakh of the defrauded amount, which was traced to several bank accounts.
What is a ‘digital arrest’?
A ‘digital arrest’ refers to a cybercrime tactic in which scammers impersonate law enforcement officers or government officials and convince victims that they are under investigation or arrest. Victims are coerced into paying large sums of money to avoid fake legal consequences, often under threats involving family members.
Similar incident in Chandigarh
In a similar scam in Chandigarh, a 64-year-old woman, Harbeer Kaur from Sector 50-B, was conned out of ₹17.5 lakh by scammers pretending to be officials from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Delhi Crime Branch. The caller, who identified himself as Rahul Sharma from TRAI, claimed a second phone number in her name was being used for illegal activities.
The victim filed a complaint at the Cyber Crime Police Station in Sector 17, Chandigarh. A case has been registered under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including charges related to cheating by personation, forgery, criminal conspiracy, and inducing delivery of property.
Investigations are ongoing in both cases, and authorities have urged the public to remain vigilant against such scams and report suspicious calls to cybercrime helplines immediately.
Sources By Agencies
