A retired woman in Mangaluru has lost her life savings of more than ₹3 crore to a highly sophisticated online scam, in what police describe as a “digital arrest” case.
The incident began on January 15 when the victim, identified as Leni Prabhu, received a missed call from an unknown number. After returning the call, she spoke to a woman posing as an official from the General Post Office. The caller falsely claimed that a parcel sent in Ms. Prabhu’s name to China had been seized and was found to contain 150 grams of MDMA, a prohibited narcotic. The scammer warned that the alleged offence could result in a prison sentence of more than 75 years.
Although woman denied sending any such package, the caller insisted it was sent using her identification. The fraudsters then obtained her personal information and offered a fabricated solution. They claimed they could provide a “no objection certificate” to clear her name, but only if she transferred 93 percent of her pension funds. Terrified by the threat of severe legal consequences, Ms. Prabhu agreed.
On January 17, woman travelled to Mangaluru and made an initial transfer of ₹55 lakh via Real Time Gross Settlement to accounts given by the fraudsters. She was instructed not to disclose the transactions to anyone. Over the following months, from January 17 to July 4, she reportedly made several transfers in instalments, amounting to a total of ₹3,09,75,000.
The scam came to light when the perpetrators stopped responding to her calls and messages. Realising she had been deceived, woman lodged a complaint at the Cyber, Economics Offences and Narcotics police station. Authorities have confirmed that the case involves the digital arrest tactic, where scammers create false legal threats to extort money from victims.
The investigation is ongoing, with police warning the public to remain vigilant against such elaborate and emotionally manipulative schemes.
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