Mumbai Cyber Police have arrested six individuals, including an IIT Delhi graduate and a private bank operations manager, for allegedly duping a 68-year-old Dahisar resident of Rs 1.12 crore in a digital arrest scam. The fraudsters allegedly impersonated officials from the Telecom Department, police, and other government agencies, threatening the elderly victim with immediate detention after claiming his name had surfaced in a Rs 238-crore money-laundering investigation.
Two-Week Confinement Under Fake Supreme Court Notice
According to police, the fraudulent operation commenced on July 30 and continued through August 12, during which the victim was coerced into executing multiple financial transactions. The accused convinced the senior citizen that his financial accounts were under formal scrutiny and that failure to cooperate with the purported probe would result in criminal proceedings and arrest.
To sustain the deception, the syndicate presented the victim with a fabricated notice bearing the name of the Supreme Court. The accused subsequently maintained continuous contact via WhatsApp video calls, subjecting him to sustained psychological pressure and making him believe he was under official digital custody while directing him to remit funds across several bank accounts.
Account Trails Lead to Inter-State Fraud Network
The scam began unravelling when cyber investigators traced the initial transaction to a specific bank account. This led to the identification of an organized network responsible for procuring bank accounts and SIM cards to channel and distribute illicit proceeds generated from cyber fraud.
Investigators revealed that one of the accused had travelled to Delhi and Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh alongside associates to collect the defrauded funds. Officials are currently mapping the travel routes, verifying local contacts made during these trips, and tracking how the proceeds were layered across diverse accounts.
Seizures Point to Wider Cyber Syndicate Operations
During the raid, investigators seized 20 mobile phones, two laptops, passbooks, ATM cards, and documentation linked to 25 bank accounts, as well as Aadhaar cards. Police also established that one of the arrested suspects had previously been named in a criminal case registered at Bandra police station in 2021, and they are examining possible links between that incident and the current operation.
Police stated that digital arrest rackets rely systematically on impersonating judicial, regulatory, or police authorities, combining forged legal notices and live video calls to simulate lawful detention. Forensic examination of the seized electronic devices, communication logs, and financial records remains underway to establish if the syndicate facilitated other cyber fraud operations across the country.
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