Pune: Cybercriminals allegedly duped a 75-year-old woman from Karve Nagar of ₹32 lakh by threatening to arrest her in a fabricated case involving a ₹2 crore fraud at a bank in Nashik. A case has been registered at Warje police station.
According to the police, the incident took place between Oct 6 and Nov 6. The complainant lives in Karve Nagar with her son and his family.
On Oct 6, the cybercriminals contacted the woman on her mobile phone, posing as officers from the Nashik Crime Branch. They claimed that her Aadhaar card and bank account had been misused to commit a ₹2 crore fraud at a Canara Bank branch in Nashik and alleged that the stolen funds had been deposited into her account.
They further claimed that the money was linked to a drug racket and that her name had surfaced in connection with it.
The fraudsters sent a fake arrest warrant to the woman through a messaging app. To instil fear, they told her that 247 people had already been arrested in the case and that she was the 248th person to be targeted.
They then informed her that she was under "digital arrest". She was instructed to report via video call twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, and was warned not to disclose the matter to anyone, including her family members.
The fraudsters threatened that if she did not comply, she would be arrested, all her assets would be seized, and her bank accounts would be frozen.
Claiming that she could avoid arrest by transferring money, the fraudsters provided her with the details of two bank accounts. Fearing arrest, the woman transferred ₹32 lakh through the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system into the accounts provided by the fraudsters over two to three days.
Even after receiving the amount, the fraudsters continued to demand more money. This aroused the woman's suspicion. Upon making enquiries, she realised she had been defrauded and subsequently filed a complaint at Warje police station.
Police Inspector Suvarna Hulwan of the Crime Branch is investigating the case.
