A 75-year-old woman in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar was duped out of Rs 3.8 crore after fraudsters impersonated police officers through a ‘digital arrest’ scam involving video calls, highlighting a growing trend of high-value cyber fraud targeting the elderly.
A 75-year-old woman in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar was allegedly cheated out of Rs 3.8 crore after fraudsters impersonating police officers held her under what cyber crime investigators describe as a “digital arrest” for 14 days. The case adds to a growing list of high-value scams in which criminals use fear, authority and video calls to pressure victims into transferring money, often while pretending to be law-enforcement or other government officials.
According to the complaint filed by Shubhada Ashok Kulkarni, the fraud began on 18 September when she received a call from a man who introduced himself as Rajan Bhise and claimed to be with the Nashik crime branch. He allegedly told her that a bank account had been opened in her name in Mumbai and was being used to channel money linked to terrorist activity. A second caller then reinforced the story, saying that Rs 2 crore had been credited to the account and that Rs 2 lakh had been sent to Kulkarni as commission. The callers warned that her bank accounts would be checked by the Reserve Bank of India and threatened to arrest her and her son if she did not cooperate.
To make the deception more convincing, the woman was taken on a WhatsApp video call in which a man appeared in a police uniform, with the Indian tricolour and a blue police flag visible behind him. That visual detail appears to have helped persuade her that the callers were genuine officers. Police said the intimidation continued morning, afternoon and evening from 18 September until 1 October, with repeated warnings that she and her family would be harmed if she spoke to anyone. On 21 September, the scammers allegedly began collecting details of her bank accounts, transactions and fixed deposits before directing her to move money through RTGS payments.
Investigators say the money was sent in five transfers to accounts selected by the fraudsters. The sums included Rs 62 lakh on 23 September from Devgiri Nagari Sahakari Bank, Rs 89 lakh on 28 September from Central Bank of India, Rs 54 lakh on 29 September from Aurangabad District Central Cooperative Bank, Rs 55 lakh on 1 October from HDFC Bank and another Rs 40.8 lakh from an SBI account. Jinsi police inspector Ganesh Tathe said Kulkarni lives alone in Venkatesh Nagar, while her son works in Jamnagar and her daughter lives in the United States, a situation the accused reportedly used to intensify her fear and isolation.
After realising she had been cheated, Kulkarni filed a complaint at Jinsi police station. Cyber police have since frozen Rs 32 lakh from the proceeds, while efforts continue to trace and freeze the remaining funds in the beneficiary accounts. DCP headquarters Shashikant Satv said investigators are examining the accounts used to receive the transfers and searching for the suspects who posed as police officers.
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