A 66-year-old man from Mangaluru has fallen victim to a sophisticated digital arrest scam, losing more than ₹34 lakh after fraudsters posing as government officials convinced him that he was under investigation in a major financial crime.
According to the police complaint, the scam began on July 10 when the victim received a phone call from a man claiming to represent the Data Protection Board of India. The caller alleged that the victim’s identity documents had been misused to obtain a SIM card linked to illegal activities.
The call was later transferred to individuals impersonating officers from Mumbai’s Colaba Police Station. They allegedly told the victim that a bank account had been opened in his name by another person and had been used to route nearly ₹2 crore in suspicious transactions.
The fraudsters further claimed that the victim had received ₹20 lakh as commission from the illegal transfers and warned that criminal proceedings had already been initiated against him. To increase the pressure, they falsely stated that a Supreme Court arrest warrant had been issued.
The callers then instructed the victim to transfer the money from his bank accounts for what they described as an official verification process. They assured him that the funds would be returned once the verification was completed, claiming the money would otherwise be frozen.
Trusting the claims, the senior citizen transferred a total of ₹34.48 lakh through multiple RTGS transactions between July 12 and July 27 to bank accounts provided by the fraudsters.
When the promised refund never arrived and the callers became unreachable, the victim discussed the incident with acquaintances, who recognised it as a digital arrest cyber fraud. He subsequently approached the police.
Based on the complaint, the CEN Crime Police Station in Mangaluru has registered a case and launched an investigation to trace those behind the fraud.
