Elderly woman kept under ‘digital arrest’ for four days, cheated of 97 lakh

Pune: An 85-year-old woman from the Camp area was kept under ‘digital arrest' for four days by online fraudsters posing as officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and cheated of Rs97 lakh.The elderly woman, a housewife, was held under digital arrest from Friday to Monday and did not respond to phone calls made by her relatives living abroad.One of her relatives, who lives in Dubai, contacted the Pune city police and requested them to check on her. Following this, a team from the Cantonment police station and Pune cyber police visited her residence and found her shivering and visibly distressed.Police said the woman belongs to a business family from the Camp area and lives alone in a flat in an upscale society on East Street.Initially, she refused to open the door, but after repeated knocking by the police with the help of neighbours, she eventually opened it. The police then took her to the Cantonment police station, counselled her, and asked about the incident.Senior inspector Swapnali Shinde of the Pune cyber police said, "The woman told us that the fraudsters, posing as senior CBI officials, contacted her on her mobile phone and later insisted that she attend video calls, during which they impersonated CBI officers.""They claimed that her Aadhaar card and bank account had been used in a money laundering case involving a businessman who had previously been arrested. They threatened to arrest her and even sent her a fake arrest warrant," a police officer said."They also told her that her arrest would bring disgrace to her family. Later, they offered to ‘settle' the case if she paid them money. The woman then began transferring money to them. She exhausted her savings and even broke her fixed deposits to pay the suspects. In total, she transferred Rs97 lakh to the fraudsters," the officer added.