Senior citizen placed under 'digital arrest', duped of Rs 40.7 lakh in Indore

Indore: A 70-year-old man in Madhya Pradesh's Indore was allegedly placed under "digital arrest" by cyber fraudsters who duped him of Rs 40.7 lakh, police said on Tuesday.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Rajesh Dandotia said two accused called the septuagenarian working for a private company by posing as officers of the Mumbai police and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

"The fraudsters informed the victim that a fraudulent transaction of Rs 2.60 crore was done in his name through an account of Canara Bank in Mumbai," he said.

Dandotia said the fraudsters did a video call with the man and threatened to place him under "digital arrest" and kept giving him instructions during the fake interrogation.

Fearing arrest, the complainant transferred Rs 40.7 lakh from his savings to different bank accounts of the accused.

"The fraudsters told the man that if he is cleared in the investigation of law enforcement agencies, the amount will be returned to his account within one or two hours," the official said.

Dandotia said on realising that he had been cheated, the man lodged a complaint with the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and the police.

Based on the complaint, a case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, and a detailed investigation is underway.

"Digital arrest" is a new method of cyber fraud in which fraudsters pose as law enforcement officers and threaten people on audio or video calls and hold them hostage digitally on the false pretext of arrest.