82-year-old doctor loses Rs 1.2 crore to digital arrest fraud

Trichy: By falsely threatening to arrest him in person and claiming he was being digitally arrested, two scammers posing as fake CBI officials managed to trap the 82-year-old doctor from Tiruvarur district, who ended up losing Rs 1.19 crore.   

The cybercrime police arrested the two accused who threatened to visit the doctor in person and arrest him unless he made a transaction of a huge sum. Like this, they extorted money from the doctor by claiming that he was involved in illegal activities and was being "digitally arrested."

According to the police, the doctor runs a small clinic in Muthupet. The incident took place a few weeks ago when he received video calls from a group of people who claimed to be officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). 

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To intimidate the doctor, the accused falsely claimed he was involved in illegal activities and would face criminal charges. They also threatened to come to his house and arrest him unless he transferred the money.  

Scared and panicked, the elderly doctor sent them Rs 1.19 crore in two transactions. However, when the fraudsters called again asking for even more money, Dr *** became suspicious and realised he had been cheated. He filed a complaint with the cybercrime police on Thursday.

As per a TOI news report, the cyber sleuths sprang into action, traced the doctor's recent calls and searched for the source. Unlike in many other scams, they found that the fraudsters were in nearby Trichy. 

On Saturday, the police arrested the duo under BNS 316(2) for criminal breach of trust, 318(3) for cheating and under section 66D of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act for cheating by personation using a computer resource.

After their arrests, they were produced in a court in Tiruvarur, which remanded them at the Nagapattinam district jail in judicial custody.

Tiruvarur SP Garad Karun told TOI, "The group might be involved in more such scams. The case is under investigation. We are still learning about the modes of operation of the perpetrators and examining the loopholes they exploited. More details will be disclosed later after a thorough probe."

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