Retired airline staffer in Pune loses Rs 1 crore to crooks in digital arrest fraud

PUNE: A retired airline employee (75) from Wanowrie lost Rs1 crore between Jan 15 and 23 to cybercrooks after they called her posing as officials of "Delhi crime branch" and placed her under digital arrest for four days by threatening "action in a money laundering case".
The victim lodged a complaint with the Pune cyber police on Wednesday afternoon after the police verified her complaint application. The police said the victim was unmarried and stayed alone in a bungalow in Wanowrie. Her family members live in different parts of the city.
Senior inspector Swapnali Shinde of the cyber police said, "The woman remained in the digital arrest for four days after receiving the threat call from the suspects on her messaging application. The suspects had sent her a bogus arrest warrant and fake case papers."
Shinde said, "The accused told her to download a telecommunication application, which broadcast live videos, and ordered her to remain seated in front of her cellphone's camera. The suspects promised to help her out in the case of money laundering and shared details of two bank accounts with her. They sought money from her on the pretext of helping to resolve her money laundering case."
The officer said, "The victim then visited her bank and transferred money to two different bank accounts with a private bank by making two RTGS transfers, one each of Rs50 lakh, to the bank accounts of the fraudsters. But the suspects kept on demanding more money from her. The victim told them that she did not have more money, following which they told her to take a loan to pay them. After this conversation, the victim became suspicious and approached us."