Fake Mumbai cop puts retired teacher under ‘digital arrest’, swindles Rs 1.61 crore

Karwar: In a chilling case highlighting the growing sophistication of cybercrime, fraudsters posing as Mumbai Police officials allegedly duped a 72-year-old retired teacher of Rs 1.61 crore by subjecting him to a so-called “digital arrest” through WhatsApp video calls.

The victim, Palden, a resident of the Tibetan Colony in Mundgod, Uttara Kannada district, was targeted by a caller who claimed to be an inspector from the Colaba Police Station in Maharashtra. According to the police complaint, the caller told Palden that his ATM card had been found among hundreds of cards recovered from a terrorist arrested in Mumbai.

The fraudsters went on to allege that large sums of money had been illegally transferred from Palden’s bank accounts and that he was facing a money laundering case. To lend authenticity to the claims, the accused appeared on video calls wearing a police uniform and sent fabricated bank statements to the victim.

Palden was allegedly told that his money had to be transferred to a “National Fund” as part of the investigation and that it would be returned once the probe was completed. He was also warned against sharing the information with anyone and was instructed to send updates on his location every two hours — a tactic the fraudsters described as “digital arrest”.

Panicked by the threats, the retired teacher withdrew money from his fixed deposits and borrowed funds from relatives. Over a period of time, he transferred around Rs 1.61 crore to the accounts specified by the fraudsters.

After realising he had been deceived, Palden lodged a complaint at the Karwar Cyber Police Station.

Police officials said a case has been registered and efforts are on to identify the perpetrators and trace the flow of funds. Authorities have once again cautioned the public against falling prey to such impersonation scams.