Retired Pune Professor Duped of Rs 25 Lakh in ‘Digital Arrest’ Scam, Cyber Police Recover Entire Amount
Pune, 13th February 2025: A retired medical college professor fell victim to a ‘digital arrest’ scam in September last year, losing ₹25 lakh to cyber fraudsters posing as law enforcement officials. However, swift action by the Pune cyber police led to the full recovery of the amount, which was handed back to the victim earlier this week.
The 62-year-old professor, who lives alone in Pune’s Camp area, was tricked into believing that her bank account was linked to a money laundering case. The fraudsters, impersonating officials from the Mumbai Crime Branch, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and Enforcement Directorate (ED), falsely claimed that illegal funds had been deposited in her account. They then sent her a fake digital arrest warrant and pressured her to transfer ₹25 lakh to a private bank account, promising to “clear her name.”
Realizing the fraud soon after making the transaction, the professor promptly reported the incident to Pune’s cyber police on September 16, 2023. Senior inspector Swapnali Shinde, inspector Yashwant Nikam, sub-inspector Rameshwar Revale, and police constable Navnath Konde worked on the case for five months, collaborating with multiple banks to trace the stolen money.
“As soon as we received the complaint, we uploaded the transaction details on the cybercrime portal 1930, which helped us trace the accounts where the money had been moved,” explained Inspector Nikam.
“Following the trail, we found that the amount had been deposited into an account with a cooperative bank in Nanded district.”
The police immediately contacted the bank and requested a freeze on the fraudulent account. “The bank officials were cooperative and took swift action to prevent further withdrawals,” Nikam added.
After gathering all transaction records, police submitted their findings to the court, which issued an order for the funds to be returned to the victim. “Earlier this week, we successfully transferred ₹25 lakh back to her account,” he confirmed.
Senior Inspector Shinde emphasized the importance of quick reporting in such cases. “If victims report the fraud immediately, there is a higher chance of recovering their money before it is transferred out of the country. In this case, the victim’s prompt response played a crucial role in our success.”
Authorities have urged citizens to stay alert against online scams and verify any suspicious calls or messages claiming to be from law enforcement agencies.
