Mumbai bizman loses Rs 58 crore in 'digital arrest' scam

A 72-year-old businessman in Mumbai has allegedly been duped of a staggering Rs 58 crore in a 'digital arrest' scam orchestrated by fraudsters posing as officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the police said on Thursday.

The Rs 58-crore loss could be one of the largest reported in a 'digital arrest' cyber fraud case involving an individual, an official said.

The Maharashtra Cyber Department, which is conducting a probe into the case, had arrested three persons, he said.

'Digital arrest' is a growing form of cyber crime in which fraudsters pose as law enforcement officials or personnel of government agencies and intimidate victims through audio/video calls. They hold the victims hostage and put pressure on them to pay money.

In the latest case, the fraudsters, posing as personnel of the ED and the CBI, contacted the businessmen between August 19 to October 8 and claimed his name had cropped up in a case of money laundering.

The businessman got scared as they placed him and his wife under "digital arrest" after making a video call to him, the official said.

The fraudsters asked him to deposit money into the bank accounts specified by them.

The victim transferred Rs 58 crore through RTGS in multiple bank accounts within a span of about two months, the official said.

Later, he realised that he had been cheated and approached the police with a complaint.

The cyber sleuths registered a case last week under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.

During the probe, the police analysed the financial trail and found that the money was transferred to at least 18 bank accounts, the official said.

They immediately approached the authorities to freeze the amounts transferred to multiple bank accounts, he said.

The police have identified three persons involved in the fraud — Abdul Khulli (47), from suburban Malad, Arjun Kadvasara (55) and his brother Jetharam (35), from Mumbai Central — and arrested them, the official said. — PTI