'Digital Arrest' Scam: Fraudsters Pose As Police, RBI Officials To Dupe Retired Tax Officer

A retired Income Tax officer in his 50s from Nagpur has become the latest victim of a sophisticated cyber extortion scheme in Mumbai, police report. The victim was duped by scammers who impersonated senior law enforcement and regulatory officials.

The fraudsters began their multi-day assault on October 1 by calling the victim, falsely identifying themselves as Keshav Jadhav, an operative stationed at Mumbai Police Headquarters. The victim was informed that a WhatsApp account under his name had been flagged for illegal advertisements. The scam quickly became a psychologically intimidating ordeal.

Two days later, on October 3, the fraudsters transferred the call to another accomplice posing as a police investigator. They told the victim that his identification credentials had been found at a crime scene related to a terrorist attack in Kashmir. The impostors threatened to arrest him immediately, effectively putting him under a "digital arrest."

For five days, between October 2 and October 6, a fraudster posing as a high-ranking Indian Police Service investigator conducted daily video interrogations. The scammers claimed they were conducting a financial sweep under the RBI's authorization, alleging the victim's accounts were linked to a massive money laundering scheme. Under duress, the victim was coerced into withdrawing Rs 10 lakhs from a fixed deposit to "satisfy" the RBI officials.

The victim transferred the money on October 8 to a corporate account, only to realize the fraudulence after communication was cut off. The victim then filed a complaint with the Cyber Police, who are now investigating the mule accounts involved in the transfer to trace the stolen funds.