A 70-year-old widow from Memnagar in Ahmedabad was allegedly duped of nearly ₹24 lakh by cyber fraudsters posing as officials from the Department of Telecommunications and the Mumbai Crime Branch, in what police have termed a classic ‘digital arrest’ scam.
According to a complaint filed with the Cyber Crime Police Station, Ahmedabad, the fraud took place between January 4 and 22. During this period, the victim was kept under constant watch through WhatsApp calls and video calls, with the accused using multiple mobile numbers to impersonate government and police officials.
The complainant, Mitaben Modi, said she received a WhatsApp call on January 4 around 4 pm from a man identifying himself as Vijay Khanna from the Telecommunications Department. He claimed that a mobile number linked to her Aadhaar card had been used between 2019 and 2023 for large financial transactions, including deposits of ₹2.5 lakh per month, and was allegedly connected to crimes such as child pornography and illegal gambling.
The call was later transferred to another person claiming to be Arun Kumar, an investigating officer from Mumbai, followed by WhatsApp video calls from a man posing as Sub-Inspector Pradeep Sawan of the Mumbai Crime Branch. To gain her trust, the fraudsters sent forged copies of an FIR and a fake Supreme Court notice carrying her personal details.
Police said the accused instructed the woman to stay locked in a room, remain continuously available on video calls and not share the matter with anyone, threatening arrest if she failed to cooperate. She was told that although serious charges had been registered against her, she could avoid arrest by agreeing to an “online investigation”.
Over the next few days, the fraudsters repeatedly contacted her, claiming that cases under the Foreign Exchange Management Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act had also been added. To speed up the probe, she was asked to pay an investigation fee, with assurances that the money would be refunded within three days.
Fearing arrest, the woman broke her fixed deposits and transferred ₹15 lakh from her Bank of India account to a Yes Bank account provided by the accused. She later pledged her gold ornaments to raise additional funds and transferred ₹9 lakh through RTGS from her SBI account to an ICICI Bank account shared by the fraudsters. In total, she lost ₹24 lakh.
When the accused later demanded an additional ₹40 lakh for issuing a police clearance certificate and again threatened arrest, the woman finally informed her son, Kripal Modi. He contacted the national cyber crime helpline (1930), following which a formal complaint was lodged.
Based on the complaint, the Cyber Crime Police Station, Ahmedabad, has registered an FIR against unknown persons for cheating, criminal breach of trust, impersonation and cyber offences under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act. Police are investigating the WhatsApp numbers, bank accounts and digital trails used in the scam.