Pic: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Nov 1: A quick and coordinated effort by personnel of the Mangaluru Cyber Economic and Narcotics (CEN) Police Station helped a 79-year-old woman from Bejai recover Rs 17 lac, which she was tricked into transferring online after being threatened with a ‘digital arrest’.
According to DCP (Law and Order) Mithun H N, the woman received a call from an unknown number around 10 am on October 23, where the caller falsely claimed that an arrest warrant had been issued against her. The fraudster posed as an official and warned that she would be arrested unless she transferred her funds to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) account for ‘verification’. The caller also threatened her not to inform anyone about the matter.
Frightened by the threats, the elderly woman followed the instructions. The fraudsters kept her on a phone call for over five hours and even conducted a WhatsApp video call, impersonating police officers and a judge to make the deception appear real. As she did not use UPI, they instructed her to liquidate her fixed deposits and savings and transfer the money via RTGS. She visited her bank and transferred Rs 17 lac to the provided account around 3 pm the same day.
Later that evening, around 6 pm, she confided in her neighbour, who promptly took her to the CEN Police Station at 7 pm. The police registered a complaint immediately and contacted the 1930 Cybercrime Helpline, successfully freezing the funds in the beneficiary account. The concerned bank manager was also alerted.
A formal report was submitted to the court on October 24, and following the intervening holidays, the court ordered the release of the frozen amount to the victim’s account on October 27.
DCP Mithun lauded the timely intervention of the police and urged citizens to remain alert against such scams. “There is no such legal process as a digital arrest in India. No agency, including the police, judiciary, CBI, or ED, ever demands money transfers or deposits under such pretexts,” he clarified.
He also warned citizens against digital investment scams, unauthorised share trading, and fake demat accounts not recognised by the RBI or SEBI.
Explaining the growing trend of call merging scams, the DCP said fraudsters trick victims into merging calls with automated bank lines to steal one-time passwords (OTPs). Citizens are advised not to merge unknown calls, download only trusted apps, and never share OTPs.
He further cautioned against SIM swapping, a method where scammers obtain duplicate SIM cards linked to victims’ numbers, urging the public to stay vigilant and report suspicious activity immediately.