{
  "id": 15543765,
  "title": "68-Year-Old Retired Woman Duped Of ₹60.5 Lakh In Digital Arrest Scam; Forced To Mortgage 52 Tola Gold",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/19/68-year-old-retired-woman-duped-of-60-5-lakh-in-digital-arrest-scam",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-19T01:59:13.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/68-year-old-retired-woman-duped-of-605-lakh-in-digital-arrest-scam-forced-to-mortgage-52-tola-gold"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In Mumbai, a 68-year-old retired woman was allegedly defrauded of ₹60.5 lakh in a digital arrest scam. Cybercriminals impersonating police officers threatened her with arrest over a money laundering case. The woman, a retired employee of Maharashtra Credit Cooperative Society, received a call on September 28, 2026, from someone claiming to be Ajay Sharma from the Data Protection Department. He falsely stated that 20 people had complained against her and led her to believe she was required to lodge an online complaint and provide a mobile number. Sub-Inspector Sandeep Rao allegedly contacted her, claiming her Aadhaar card had been misused and that an arrest warrant existed. He instructed her not to disclose the matter and to delete certain numbers from her phone. On September 29, she received a WhatsApp video call from another number, who inquired about her gold possessions. The fraudsters directed her to withdraw gold from a bank locker and mortgage it to obtain a loan. On September 30, representatives from Muthoot Finance visited her home and processed her request for a loan of ₹25 lakh, after deducting charges. The fraudsters threatened she would face digital arrest if she failed to transfer the money. Under duress, she made RTGS transactions on October 1, 3, and 6, sending photos of the receipts to the fraudsters. They also monitored her activities via video calls. After October 6, the fraudsters ceased communication. Realizing she had been scammed, she reported the incident to the national cybercrime helpline on October 14, leading to the registration of a case against three unidentified accused.",
  "summary": "Mumbai: A 68-year-old retired woman from Kanjurmarg East was allegedly duped of ₹60.5 lakh in a digital arrest scam after cyber fraudsters posing as police officers threatened to arrest her in a money laundering case. The accused allegedly forced her to mortgage 52 tolas of gold to raise funds and transfer the money to bank accounts provided by them. According to the FIR, 68 year old the victim,…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}