Mangaluru, Aug 10 (PTI) A retired woman here lost Rs 3.09 crore to cybercriminals in a ‘digital arrest’ scam, police said on Sunday.
The victim, identified as Leni Prabhu, filed a complaint with the Cyber Economic and Narcotics (CEN) police station after receiving a missed call on January 15 from an unknown number. When she returned the call, a woman posing as a General Post Office official told her that a parcel sent in her name to China had been intercepted, containing 150 grams of MDMA.
The caller "threatened that the offence carried a prison sentence of over 75 years."
Claiming she could help obtain a no-objection certificate, the fraudster coerced Prabhu into surrendering 93 percent of her pension.
Under duress, Prabhu first transferred Rs 55 lakh via RTGS. Between January 17 and July 4, she made multiple transactions totaling Rs 3.09 crore to accounts allegedly provided by the suspects.
The scam was uncovered when the victim stopped receiving responses from the fraudsters.
In a 'digital arrest' scam, fraudsters allegedly impersonate law enforcement officials to deceive and intimidate victims by falsely accusing them of illegal activities. They then pressure victims into paying money to avoid arrest. The perpetrators often pose as CBI agents, income tax officers, or customs officials and contact victims through phone calls.
A case has been registered, and investigators are working to trace the perpetrators and recover the stolen funds.