A 72-year-old woman living alone in Mira Road became the latest target of cyber criminals who posed as police officers to cheat her of Rs 22.54 lakh in a “digital arrest” scam.
In her complaint to the police, the senior citizen whose late father worked for the Indian Army stated that she received a call from a man who threatened her with criminal action saying she was under investigations for money laundering via her Aadhar card which was found to be linked in illegally conducted cash transactions in Bihar, Punjab, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
In an apparent bid to make the entire scam look legitimate, the cyber crooks staged video calls, wearing police uniforms and threatened to arrest her with the help of the local police. Later, with an assurance that they will help her in getting out from the ambit of investigations, the callers sought her account details and asked her to deposit Rs.one lakh in a specified bank account. The terrified complainant complied. However, the demands went on increasing and she ended up transferring a total of Rs.22.54 lakh via 11 transactions within a period of 23 days between 10, December 2024 to 2, January 2025.
She revealed about the incident to her Canada-based cousin brother who advised her to register a complaint with the police as she had been cheated. Based on her complaint an offence under the relevant sections of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita and Information Technology Act was registered at the Naya Nagar police station in Mira Road against the callers and holders of the account which were used to get the money credited.
A similar crime was reported in December, 2024 in which a 77-year-old woman from Mira Road was duped of more than Rs.15.49 lakh by cyber crooks posing as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers who issued threats of legal action by claiming that her parcel was seized by the customs department in New Delhi as it contained narcotics. Further investigations were underway.
