71-year-old loses over Rs 43 lakh in digital arrest scam

Hyderabad: A 71-year-old man was duped of ₹43.8 lakh by fraudsters posing as law enforcement officials in a digital arrest scam. Based on the victim's complaint, Cyberabad police registered a case on Tuesday.According to the complainant from Bachupally, he received a WhatsApp message on March 31 from a fraudster identifying himself as Sanjay. The fraudster claimed that the victim's SIM card was misused for terrorist activities. The next day, the victim was made to speak to another fraudster posing as an NIA official. "I was accused of involvement in terror funding," the victim said.The fraudsters also told the victim that a debit card in his name was seized during a raid they conducted in Mumbai and the account linked to the card had ₹2 crore crime proceeds. The victim denied any involvement in illegal activities and said he could not travel to Mumbai because of his health.The accused then made him agree to a digital verification of the money in his bank accounts to prove his innocence. As per their instructions, the accused transferred ₹43.8 lakh into an account specified by the fraudsters on April 10. As the fraudsters did not fulfil their promise of returning the money after verification and became incommunicado, the victim approached Cyberabad cybercrime police on Tuesday. A case was registered under relevant sections of the BNS and the IT Act.