Retd banker, ex-I-T dept staffer fall prey to digital arrest scams | Mumbai News - Times of India

Mumbai: Two well-educated elderly women, both retired professionals from govt organisations, fell prey to separate digital arrest frauds and were held hostage online for nearly 10 days by scammers.

In the first case, a 68-year-old retired employee of a public sector bank was duped of nearly Rs 1.2 crore after being kept "under virtual arrest", while in the second case, a 74-year-old former Income-Tax (I-T) department employee was scammed using fake letters from the I-T department and RBI of Rs 25 lakh. Despite awareness campaigns, senior citizens continue to be easy targets for digital arrest scammers, police said.

The retired banker, in her complaint to the police, said that on Nov 11 she received a call from a Hindi-speaking woman who knew her name. The caller alleged that she had made a purchase running into crores at Hyderabad and had defaulted on payments, and therefore all her bank accounts would be closed down. The call was then "transferred to Hyderabad police", despite the complainant pleading that she had made no such purchase.

Next, a fake cop came on the line and accused her of a Rs 500-crore money laundering scam and for financing terrorism which could land her in prison. A video call on WhatsApp followed and the complainant was asked to lock herself in a room for a "CBI probe." She was advised to charge her phone and ensure the video call was not disconnected.

Over the next few days, the complainant liquidated her pension account, fixed deposits, public provident fund account and mutual funds. The scammers threatened her with fake letters from the finance ministry, Supreme Court Bar Association, and Telangana govt. She paid them Rs 1.2 crore, totally. Then on Nov 20, she read in a Marathi newspaper about a woman falling sick after being defrauded in a digital arrest scam. The complainant finally realised she had been taken for a ride and went to the police.

In the second case, the retired I-T department employee received a phone call on Nov 12 about her credit card and Aadhaar card being found during an investigation in a money laundering case. The call was transferred to the "Bengaluru police" who started making inquiries of her assets and jewellery. She was threatened with a non-bailable arrest warrant and forbidden from speaking to her family.

Over the next few days, a fake CBI officer spoke to her over WhatsApp. Bogus documents with the RBI and I-T department on the letterheads were shared with her and she was threatened that her family would be arrested too. She eventually paid up to Rs 25 lakh. But when a fake Supreme Court auditor started to demand more money from her, she suspected something amiss and re-examined all the documents sent to her and noticed logos of multiple authorities on the same document. She then approached the police.

Mumbai: Two well-educated elderly women, both retired professionals from govt organisations, fell prey to separate digital arrest frauds and were held hostage online for nearly 10 days by scammers.

In the first case, a 68-year-old retired employee of a public sector bank was duped of nearly Rs 1.2 crore after being kept "under virtual arrest", while in the second case, a 74-year-old former Income-Tax (I-T) department employee was scammed using fake letters from the I-T department and RBI of Rs 25 lakh. Despite awareness campaigns, senior citizens continue to be easy targets for digital arrest scammers, police said.

The retired banker, in her complaint to the police, said that on Nov 11 she received a call from a Hindi-speaking woman who knew her name. The caller alleged that she had made a purchase running into crores at Hyderabad and had defaulted on payments, and therefore all her bank accounts would be closed down. The call was then "transferred to Hyderabad police", despite the complainant pleading that she had made no such purchase.

Next, a fake cop came on the line and accused her of a Rs 500-crore money laundering scam and for financing terrorism which could land her in prison. A video call on WhatsApp followed and the complainant was asked to lock herself in a room for a "CBI probe." She was advised to charge her phone and ensure the video call was not disconnected.

Over the next few days, the complainant liquidated her pension account, fixed deposits, public provident fund account and mutual funds. The scammers threatened her with fake letters from the finance ministry, Supreme Court Bar Association, and Telangana govt. She paid them Rs 1.2 crore, totally. Then on Nov 20, she read in a Marathi newspaper about a woman falling sick after being defrauded in a digital arrest scam. The complainant finally realised she had been taken for a ride and went to the police.

In the second case, the retired I-T department employee received a phone call on Nov 12 about her credit card and Aadhaar card being found during an investigation in a money laundering case. The call was transferred to the "Bengaluru police" who started making inquiries of her assets and jewellery. She was threatened with a non-bailable arrest warrant and forbidden from speaking to her family.

Over the next few days, a fake CBI officer spoke to her over WhatsApp. Bogus documents with the RBI and I-T department on the letterheads were shared with her and she was threatened that her family would be arrested too. She eventually paid up to Rs 25 lakh. But when a fake Supreme Court auditor started to demand more money from her, she suspected something amiss and re-examined all the documents sent to her and noticed logos of multiple authorities on the same document. She then approached the police.