Pune woman, 75, loses Rs 32 lakh to "digital arrest" fraudsters posing as Nashik crime branch officers

A 75-year-old woman from Karve Nagar in Pune has fallen victim to cyber fraudsters, who took Rs 32 lakh from her by threatening to arrest her in a fabricated case of a Rs 2 crore fraud at a bank in Nashik. A case has been registered at Warje police station.

According to the police, the offence took place between October 6 and November 6. The woman lives in Karve Nagar with her son and his family.

On October 6, the fraudsters phoned the woman on her mobile and claimed to be officers of the Nashik crime branch. They said her Aadhaar card and bank account had been misused to commit a Rs 2 crore fraud at a Canara Bank branch in Nashik, and that the stolen money had been deposited in her account. They also said the money was linked to a drug racket and that her name had come up in the case.

To convince her, the fraudsters sent her a fake arrest warrant on a messaging app. She was told that 247 people had already been arrested and that she was the 248th. They then said she was under "digital arrest". She was ordered to report on a video call twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. She was also warned not to tell anyone, including family members. The fraudsters threatened that if she did not comply, she would be arrested, all her property would be seized and her bank accounts would be frozen.

The fraudsters then said that transferring money could avert the arrest and gave her details of two bank accounts. Fearing arrest, the woman sent Rs 32 lakh through RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) over two to three days.

Even after receiving the money, the fraudsters kept demanding more. This made the woman suspicious. When she made inquiries, she realised she had been cheated and filed a complaint at Warje police station.

Police Inspector Suvarna Hulwan of the crime branch is investigating the case. No arrest has been reported so far.