Six arrested in Rs 24 cr 'digital arrest' scam targeting elderly woman in Bengaluru

The Karnataka State Cyber Command busted a "digital arrest" fraud racket, arresting six individuals who allegedly duped a 74-year-old woman of Rs 24 crore.

The Karnataka State Cyber Command has busted a ''digital arrest'' fraud racket and arrested six persons who allegedly impersonated as senior officials of the CBI and ED to dupe a 74-year-old woman of Rs 24 crore, police said on Monday.

The arrested accused were identified as N Sivagnanam from Erode (Tamil Nadu), Akkach Mallick from Mumbai, Palak Bhai Patel and Amit Narendra Patel from Ahmedabad, Om Prakash Rajput from New Delhi and Gaurav Kumar from Bihar, they said.

The accused allegedly coerced the victim into transferring money between February 10 and April 24 this year, police said.

The woman transferred Rs 24 crore from her bank account through 26 transactions into 23 mule bank accounts spread across 10 banks across the country, they added.

According to police, the fraud came to light on April 24 when the Cyber Command Unit was alerted by the bank about suspicious transaction attempts, following which the police team rushed and counselled the victim. Thus, Rs 3 crore was saved by preventing further transfers to the fraudster mule account.

Police registered a case based on a complaint from the elderly woman.

As a part of the investigation, the Cyber Command Unit swung into action to identify the account holders where the proceeds of crime were parked in the first layer accounts.

''During the action, the team was able to freeze various mule accounts used for layering and laundering the proceeds of crime with the help of NCRP portal and could save over Rs 4 crore and also recovered nearly Rs 1.50 crore through court orders,'' a statement by Pronab Mohanty, Director General of Police, Cyber Command, Bengaluru stated.

Police also seized six mobile phones allegedly used in the crime.

Digital arrest is a growing form of cybercrime in which fraudsters pose as law enforcement officers, court officials or personnel from government agencies to intimidate victims through audio and video calls. They hold the victims hostage and put pressure on them to pay money.