Pune Woman Duped of Rs 2.57 Crore in ‘Digital Arrest’ Scam
Pune, 20th March 2025: In yet another case of cyber fraud, a 74-year-old woman from Erandwane was tricked into transferring ₹2.57 crore after scammers posing as police officials falsely accused her and her son of involvement in a money laundering case. The fraudsters confined the elderly woman to her home for nearly a week, a tactic known as “digital arrest.”
Senior Inspector Swapnali Shinde of Pune Cyber Police stated, “The incident occurred between February 15 and March 12. The woman, who was under immense stress, approached us on March 19 and filed a complaint.”
The victim, who lives alone following her husband’s passing, has two sons settled in the United States. The fraud began when she received a call from a person claiming to be a senior inspector with Nashik’s Gangapur police station. The caller alleged that her biometric data had been misused in a money laundering case linked to a defunct airline company and that there was evidence against both her and her son.
Using video calls over a messenger app, the fraudsters repeatedly threatened her with arrest. “They convinced her that she could settle the case by making payments. They confined her to her home and only allowed her to visit the bank to transfer funds,” Shinde explained. Over multiple transactions, the woman wired the money to three different accounts via RTGS and IMPS.
After exhausting her savings, the scammers demanded more money, prompting her to seek financial help from relatives. When family members inquired about her sudden need for funds, she revealed the threats she had been facing. This eventually led to the realization that she had been deceived.
This is the fourth major cybercrime case involving sums exceeding ₹1 crore reported in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad within the past two weeks.
On March 6, a senior executive at an engineering and design firm was duped of ₹1.9 crore in a ‘CEO fraud’ scam, also known as whale phishing. Pune police managed to recover ₹41 lakh by freezing nearly 50 bank accounts.
On March 13, Pimpri Chinchwad cyber police registered a case where a 45-year-old private company manager lost ₹3.16 crore to a fraudster she met on a matrimonial site, who posed as a US-based NRI.
On March 17, a 42-year-old tech professional from Dhanori filed a complaint after losing ₹91.41 lakh in an online share trading scam.
Authorities urge citizens to remain cautious of such scams and verify any legal claims made over phone calls before making financial transactions.
