A 77-year-old resident of Mumbai allegedly lost Rs 50 lakh after cyber fraudsters posed as Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials and threatened him with arrest in a “digital arrest” scam.
According to a report by The Times of India, the victim, a labour law advisor from Ghatkopar’s Garodia Nagar area, received multiple calls from men claiming to be senior ED officers from Delhi. The callers allegedly told him that a bank account linked to his Aadhaar card was being used for illegal financial activities.
The fraudsters reportedly claimed that the Supreme Court had issued orders for his arrest and seizure of his assets. To make the threat appear genuine, they allegedly conducted WhatsApp video calls resembling official court proceedings and instructed the elderly man not to discuss the matter with anyone.
Fearing legal action and danger to his life, the victim reportedly broke a fixed deposit and transferred Rs 50 lakh through RTGS to a bank account shared by the accused.
The senior citizen later realised he had been cheated and approached the police. A complaint was first registered on the cybercrime helpline 1930, following which an FIR was filed at the East Region Cyber Police Station.
