What began as a routine phone call quickly turned into a carefully planned fraud attempt that lasted over a week. A 65-year-old retired employee of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation narrowly escaped a “digital arrest” scam after remaining under constant pressure from fraudsters posing as Mumbai Crime Branch officers.
According to police sources, the senior citizen, a resident of Howrah near Kolkata, received a call on January 20 claiming his phone number had been linked to multiple fraud cases in Maharashtra. The callers threatened him with arrest and soon shifted him to a video call, where the intimidation continued. The fraudsters claimed the case had reached the Supreme Court, deepening the fear.
Believing the threats, the man broke his fixed deposits across 3 banks and transferred nearly Rs 28 lakh into his own account, as instructed. For almost 8 days, he remained under what the fraudsters described as a “digital arrest,” staying on video calls while being monitored.
On Wednesday, when the pressure to transfer the money intensified, the man grew suspicious. In a quick move, he left his phone at home while the video call was still active and rushed to the Malipanchghara police station. The Howrah Cyber Crime unit and local police acted immediately. His SIM card was removed, and UPI details linked to his 3 bank accounts were changed, preventing the fraudsters from accessing the funds.
An officer from the Howrah City Police Cyber Crime unit said the fraud ring was likely operating from Cambodia. The timely police action helped the victim avoid a major financial loss.
Police have once again warned that despite growing awareness, senior citizens continue to fall prey to such scams. Victims often delay reporting incidents due to fear. Authorities have urged people to contact the police immediately if they receive suspicious calls or video requests instead of panicking.
In a related incident, a 77-year-old former university professor from Salt Lake near Kolkata was cheated of Rs 35 lakh in a similar “digital arrest” scam earlier in January. Police said the fraudsters impersonated officials from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre and law enforcement agencies, threatening arrest under the National Security Act. The victim was kept under house arrest for nearly 2 weeks and falsely accused of links to Sadakat Khan, an accused in a Cambodia-linked human trafficking and cybercrime case.
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