Digital Arrest Scams
Cybercriminals target senior citizens across cities using elaborate digital arrest scams.
Anonymous
Cybercriminals posing as police, CBI, Crime Branch or Enforcement Directorate officials are targeting senior citizens with “digital arrest” scams, using fake documents, video calls and threats of arrest in money-laundering or terrorism cases to force payments. Recent victims include a retired Pune government official who lost Rs 1.28 crore, a Pune man defrauded of Rs 19.2 lakh, and a Chandigarh-area retired SBI employee who transferred nearly Rs 30 lakh after being falsely accused of money laundering. In Delhi, police traced funds from another cyberfraud investigation to a senior citizen in Janakpuri who had already sent about Rs 60 lakh and intervened while she was still being pressured to transfer more money, protecting her remaining investments. Police have registered cases under provisions covering extortion, cheating, impersonation and identity theft, while authorities warn that legitimate agencies do not conduct investigations or demand money through video calls or remote transfers.
Key Points
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In the Pune case involving the 74-year-old retired official, scammers first claimed that his Aadhaar card had been misused to obtain a SIM card linked to threatening calls and pornographic videos. They then sent fabricated FIR and money-laundering documents and induced him to disclose details of his savings and investments before demanding four transfers between August 27 and September 1.
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Police data cited in the Pune report show that 95 digital-arrest cases had been registered in the city during the year; 36 cases had been detected and 71 people arrested, underscoring the scale of the fraud beyond the individual victims described.
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The Delhi investigation began with a separate ₹67.30 lakh cyberfraud reported on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal. Investigators followed the money through an Axis Bank account belonging to a Karnataka-based private company and then to a South Indian Bank savings account, which helped them identify the Janakpuri victim rather than treating her account as a criminal mule account.
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The Chandigarh case also involved an unrelated cyberthreat: a Sector 34 resident downloaded an Android application package from a fake traffic-challan message and later received notifications that money had been withdrawn from her bank account. Police registered a separate cheating case at the cybercrime station.
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In the Chandigarh victim’s case, the alleged CBI caller claimed that a man named Sandeep had been arrested with ₹1 crore and that ₹22 lakh of it belonged to the victim. The victim initially transferred ₹22 lakh and then made additional payments, reaching nearly ₹30 lakh before his son recognised the fraud and contacted police.
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