A Pune digital arrest scam allegedly kept a senior citizen from Kothrud under continuous video-call surveillance for eight months, leading her to transfer Rs 68 lakh to six bank accounts after fraudsters threatened to arrest her in fabricated pornography and money-laundering cases, cyber police said on 14 October.
The elderly woman lives alone, while her children are settled abroad, Inspector Sangeeta Deokate said. The alleged fraud took place between March and the first week of October, according to the police account reported by Punekar News.
The fraudsters first contacted the woman by phone and accused her of uploading obscene photographs and videos online. They told her that the Data Protection Board of India was investigating the matter. After she denied the allegations, the callers instructed her to obtain a police clearance certificate.
A man later contacted her through a video call while posing as an officer of the Mumbai Crime Branch. He questioned her about her assets and bank accounts, before alleging that one of her accounts had been used to launder money for a banned terrorist outfit in Kerala, police said.
The accused also claimed that the woman had received Rs 20 lakh as commission for circulating obscene content and had used the money to fund terrorist activities. The allegations were followed by threats of arrest, with the fraudsters pressuring her to transfer money to avoid legal action.
The woman eventually emptied her savings and transferred a total of Rs 68 lakh to six bank accounts, according to the cyber police. The report did not identify the account holders or state whether any arrests had been made.
The case highlights how digital arrest frauds combine impersonation, video calls and threats of immediate legal action to isolate victims from normal sources of help. In this instance, the alleged operation lasted for eight months and targeted a woman living alone, while her children were based abroad.
The case also involved the alleged misuse of the names of multiple public institutions and enforcement agencies, including the Data Protection Board of India, the police and the Mumbai Crime Branch. The fraudsters used claims involving obscene content, money laundering and terrorism to pressure the complainant into treating the calls as an urgent legal proceeding.
Police said the alleged transfers were made between March and early October. The supplied report did not provide further details about the investigation, the status of the six bank accounts or the steps being taken to recover the money.
