The victim went to the bank, hacked fixed deposits, mutual funds as well as savings and deposited the amount in the given account number through RTGS

Mumbai: A 67-year-old woman from Mumbai was placed under “digital arrest‘ by online fraudsters, who forced her to pay
Rs 14 lakh in exchange for clearing her name in a non-existent money laundering case, police said.

According to the cyber security agency’s opinion CERT-Ina digital arrest is when victims receive a phone call, email or text claiming they are being investigated for illegal activities such as identity theft or money laundering.

“The scammer threatens the victim with arrest or legal consequences if they don’t take immediate action. They often create a sense of panic to prevent rational thought. Under the pretext of “clearing their name”, “assisting with the investigation” or “refundable security deposit/escrow account”, individuals are forced to transfer large sums of money into certain bank accounts or UPI Identity documents,” the notice said.

Talking about the case involving an elderly woman, a police official said on Monday, “The accused has posed in the Delhi Department of Telecom and cyber crime branch personnel. They placed her under “digital arrest” after accusing her of being involved in a money laundering case. The crime took place between September 1 and 5. The victim stays in Kandivali West in Mumbai along with her sister-in-law.”

“A case was registered on Saturday based on her complaint at the North Region cyber police station. According to the complaint, the woman received a call on September 1 from a person who identified himself as an official of the Department of Telecommunications in Delhi. She was told that a case has been registered against her at the Delhi Cyber ​​crime branch. The accused told the woman that she Aadhaar the card was used in the crime,” he said.

The accused then got her to talk to his accomplice, who posed as cyber crime branch officer Rakesh Kumar, the official added. “After being shown three fake letters from the Delhi Police and told that she could be jailed for three to five years by Kumar and a female accused who identified herself as Shobha Sharma, the victim became frightened. Sharma then asked the victim about her bank accounts and mutual funds, fixed deposits and also asked her to go to the bank and deposit all the investments in the bank account provided by her,” he said.

“On Sharma’s instructions, the victim went to the bank, hacked fixed deposits, mutual funds as well as savings and deposited Rs 14 lakh in the given account number through RTGS. The caller promised to return the money after verification. The woman realized that she was cheated after speaking to her son after which she approached the police,” the official said.