An 82-year-old woman in Thane, Maharashtra, fell victim to a sophisticated 'digital arrest' scam, losing ₹73.3 lakh after fraudsters impersonated law enforcement and falsely linked her to a terror case.
Key Points
- An 82-year-old woman in Thane was allegedly scammed out of ₹73.3 lakh in a 'digital arrest' fraud.
- Scammers posing as law enforcement claimed the woman's phone was linked to a Pakistani soldier involved in a terror attack.
- The fraudsters coerced the woman into making multiple bank transfers over four days to clear her name.
- Police have identified five local mobile phone numbers used in the crime and are investigating the identities of the accused.
An 82-year-old woman from Maharashtra's Thane district was allegedly duped of Rs 73.3 lakh in a "digital arrest" scam after fraudsters posing as law enforcement officials threatened to implicate her in a fake terror case, police said on Sunday.
The scammers allegedly intimidated the complainant, a resident of Kalyan, by claiming that her mobile phone number was linked to a Pakistani soldier involved in the Pahalgam terror attack, an official said.
He said that the accused coerced the woman into making massive bank transfers over four days to clear her name in the case.
The unidentified accused contacted the octogenarian from multiple mobile phone numbers between April 6 and 10, and she lodged a complaint with the Mahatma Phule Chowk police station on Friday after realising she had been duped, he said.
Modus Operandi of the Scam
"Under the pretext of 'verifying' her bank transactions to clear her name from the alleged terror case, the accused coerced the complainant into carrying out multiple online money transfers," he said.
The complainant followed instructions sent to her on WhatsApp, transferring a total of Rs 73.3 lakh into various bank accounts provided by the scammers, the official said.
Investigation Underway
While the police have identified five local mobile phone numbers used in the crime, a probe is underway to ascertain the identities and addresses of the accused, he said.
