An 86-year-old woman in Mumbai became victim of cyber fraud and a digital arrest scam, losing over ₹20 crore after getting a call about misuse of her Aadhaar card. The report further stated that the fraudsters were calling her, posing as police officials.
Suspects convinced her that her Aadhaar card was being misused for illegal activities, and then forced her into transferring money into several bank accounts to settle the case. Scammers are reported to have duped the victim an amount of ₹20.25 crore between December 26 last year and March 3.
This specific initial phone call began the whole scam, the caller told the victim that her Aadhaar card and other personal information were used to open a new bank account in India. Posing as a police officer, the caller informed that the concerned account was reportedly being used to initiate money transfers pertaining to several illegal activities such as money laundering.
The Threat
The caller said that legal action would be taken against her and that her daughter would also be involved because the case would involve both of their names. For her to get out of this mess, she was instructed to transfer money into several bank accounts.
The entire time, the scammers had her under ‘digital arrest,’ which prevented the woman from informing anyone. After realising that she had been duped, the woman immediately reported the matter to the police. The police have traced the transfers, detained the scammers, and the investigation is still on.
