Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Nov 12: The Maharashtra Cyber Department investigating the Rs 58 crore “digital arrest” fraud has unearthed an international network with connections spreading across Hong Kong, China, and Indonesia, officials said on Tuesday.

The case, one of India’s biggest reported cyber frauds, involved a Mumbai-based businessman who was duped between August 19 and October 8 this year. The conmen, posing as officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), allegedly intimidated the victim over video calls and siphoned off Rs 58 crore.

According to investigators, the stolen funds were converted into cryptocurrency and routed abroad through several digital wallets. The scamsters operated through a series of commission-based bank accounts, forming part of a wider international syndicate that has been targeting Indian citizens for over a year.

Officials estimate that such “digital arrest” scams may have collectively defrauded victims of over Rs 2,000 crore nationwide, using intimidation and cryptocurrency manipulation.

“Digital arrest” is a rising form of cybercrime where fraudsters impersonate law enforcement or government officials, forcing victims into compliance via video calls and coercing them into transferring large sums.

Maharashtra Cyber, the state’s nodal agency for cybersecurity and digital investigations, continues to trace the foreign links and money trail in what officials describe as a “highly organised and transnational cyber fraud network.”