Elderly woman in Coimbatore loses Rs 18 lakh in digital arrest scam

Coimbatore: A 58-year-old woman in Coimbatore was confined inside her own home for 18 days under a fake digital arrest, as scammers swindled Rs 18 lakh from her.

Police said the victim, a resident of Vadavalli, was living with her daughter in Chennai following the death of her husband, a former bank official who passed away during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to cybercrime police, the woman and her daughter recently travelled to her Vadavalli home in April. While her daughter returned to Chennai afterward, the woman stayed back alone at the house.

On April 25, she received a call from a scammer posing as a Mumbai police officer. The caller claimed that over Rs 2.5 crore was illegally transferred from her account to terrorist organisations and claimed to place her under digital arrest. He warned that undercover police were stationed outside her house and threatened to jail her if she stepped out.

Following their instructions, the woman did not leave her house or contact anyone for 18 days. After 18 days of psychological isolation, the fraudsters demanded to inspect her finances. When she maintained her innocence and stated she only had Rs 18 lakh left in her savings, the scammers instructed her to transfer the entire amount to a specific account for a “govt audit."

They promised her that the funds would be returned within days. The woman subsequently transferred the entire amount in two transactions. The fraud came to light a week later when the money was never returned. The Rs 18 lakh was the retirement and terminal benefits she received after her husband’s demise.

Realising she was scammed, the victim lodged a formal complaint with Coimbatore city cybercrime police, who registered a case on Friday. Investigating is on to track down the perpetrators.