74-year-old doctor falls victim to Rs 7.17 crore digital arrest scam

Mumbai: In a shocking case of cyber fraud, a 74-year-old doctor from Ahilyanagar has lost Rs 7.17 crore after being kept under "digital arrest", during which scammers even staged a fake online courtroom to deceive him.

The fraud lasted for a week until the doctor was coerced into transferring Rs 7.17 crore in multiple transactions to various bank accounts controlled by the fraudsters.

The incident took place on September 7, when the doctor received a phone call from a person pretending to be a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) official. The caller falsely claimed that the doctor’s phone number was involved in a money-laundering case in Mumbai.

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Shortly after, another man pretending to be a police officer spoke to the doctor and sent him a fake arrest warrant. The scammers told him that due to his age, he would not be physically arrested but would be kept under “digital arrest”.

To make the situation look real, the fraudsters created a virtual courtroom on a video call where they dressed up as a judge, a court clerk, and police officials. They asked the doctor to share details of his investments, bank accounts, and property “for verification”.

Over the next few weeks, the fraudsters pressured him into transferring money to several bank accounts. In total, the doctor sent Rs 7.17 crore through multiple transactions, believing he was cooperating with authorities, as per a Free Press Journal news report.

However, the fraud did not end here. They began demanding for more money from the doctor, which made him realise that he had been duped by them. He then immediately approached the cybercrime police and lodged a complaint, providing call records, the scammers’ contact numbers and beneficiary account details.

Also read- Elderly doctor conned out of Rs 8 crore in digital arrest scam