An 81-year-old retired businessman from Hyderabad fell victim to a devastating cyber fraud, losing a staggering sum of Rs 7.12 crore after being placed under a so-called 'digital arrest'. The elaborate scam, executed by criminals impersonating Mumbai Police officers, came to light after the victim read similar reports in the media.
The Ordeal Begins with a WhatsApp Call
The senior citizen's nightmare started on October 27 last year. He received a WhatsApp call from a person identifying himself as Sunil Sharma from a courier company's customer care. Sharma informed the victim that a parcel sent in his name from Mumbai to Bangkok contained a laptop, five passports, and 200 grams of MDMA, a narcotic drug.
Within minutes, another caller, pretending to be a Mumbai Crime Branch officer, contacted him. This impostor stated that based on the seized evidence, the elderly man was now facing serious charges including extortion, drug trafficking, money laundering, and terrorism.
Sustained Intimidation and Massive Financial Drain
The fraudsters then placed the victim under digital arrest, forbidding him from discussing the case with his family, bankers, or lawyers. They ordered him to provide full disclosure of his investments and finances. Under sustained psychological pressure and threats of imminent arrest, the terrified businessman made his first transfer of Rs 19.8 lakh on October 29 to a specified City Union Bank account.
The scammers further instructed him to install the encrypted messaging app Signal to continue communication. Between November 6 and December 5, under their relentless coercion, he executed five more large RTGS transfers:
- Rs 1.7 crore
- Rs 1.75 crore
- Rs 98 lakh
- Rs 1.5 crore
- Rs 1 crore
This brought the total loss to over Rs 7.12 crore, transferred to various bank accounts.
Suspicion Arises and Police Action Follows
The scam reached a tipping point on December 29 when the fraudsters demanded an additional Rs 1.2 crore to officially close the fabricated case against him. This excessive demand finally aroused the victim's suspicion. He searched online and discovered recent news articles by The Times of India detailing identical digital arrest frauds in Hyderabad.
Empowered by this knowledge, he lodged a complaint on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal on December 31. He subsequently approached the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) headquarters on January 2 to file a formal complaint.
Based on his complaint, the TGCSB registered a case under Section 66D of the IT Act and multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for cheating and forgery. Investigators revealed that the scammers used four different mobile numbers and funneled the massive sum through multiple accounts belonging to various shell firms. "We are analysing the money trail to identify the accused," an investigating officer stated.
A Similar Case Emerges in the City
In a disturbingly similar incident reported around the same time, an 80-year-old technical consultant from Moti Nagar, Hyderabad, was defrauded of Rs 1.75 lakh. In this case, callers posing as Bengaluru Police officers and a CBI officer claimed his SIM card was linked to a human-trafficking racket. They forced him to transfer money via UPI transactions under the guise of 'verification'. The Hyderabad Cyber Crime police have also registered a case in this matter.
These back-to-back incidents highlight a dangerous trend of cyber criminals specifically targeting elderly, vulnerable citizens with sophisticated fear-based scams, leading to catastrophic financial losses.
