Retired employee, 69, loses Rs 11 lakh to 'digital arrest' fraud in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

A 69-year-old retired employee in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has been cheated of Rs 11 lakh in the name of a "digital arrest". He was threatened with arrest on a false story that a SIM card obtained with his Aadhaar card had been used for money transactions linked to terror activities. The incident took place between September 25 and 29 at Navjeevan Colony in Hudco. A case has been registered against the cyber fraudsters at CIDCO police station.

The complainant retired in January 2015 from MSEDCL, where he was a senior operator. He lives with his wife, two sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren. According to his complaint, he received a call from an unknown number at around 11.30 am on September 25. The caller said he was speaking from the Data Protection Authority of India.

He was told that a SIM card had been bought using his Aadhaar card at Renukanagar in Nashik. He was frightened with the claim that an account had been opened at Canara Bank in Mumbai on the basis of that SIM card, that crores of rupees had been deposited in it, and that the money was being used for terror activities.

Within minutes he received a video call on WhatsApp. A man in a khaki uniform said he was Inspector Sandeep Rao of Panchavati police station in Nashik. Another alleged officer then accused him of illegal money being deposited in bank accounts and warned that he could be arrested. He was also told that the RBI would investigate his bank accounts and that he would have to cooperate. He was asked to gather the money from all his bank accounts, fixed deposits and recurring deposits in one place. Out of fear, the complainant agreed.

He was told that to avoid arrest he should make another video call on September 29 and deposit the amount in a single account. Fearing arrest, he broke a Rs 10 lakh fixed deposit at the post office in CIDCO N-7. After depositing the amount in his Central Bank of India account, he transferred Rs 11 lakh by RTGS to a Kotak Mahindra Bank account given by the fraudsters.

He was also shown a fake receipt in the name of the RBI and told the money would be returned after the inquiry was completed in eight to ten days. On October 6, he read a newspaper report on digital arrest scams and realised he had been cheated in the same way.

He filed a complaint at CIDCO police station, on which the case was registered. Inspector Atul Yerme is investigating further.