BJP MP K Sudhakar’s wife duped of Rs 14 lakh in ‘digital arrest’ scam, money recovered

BJP MP K Sudhakar’s wife, Preeti, lost Rs 14 lakh in a ‘digital arrest’ cyber fraud after receiving a fake police video call. Bengaluru police quickly froze the transaction and recovered the money, urging citizens to promptly report such scams

Bengaluru: In a swift operation, the Bengaluru police have recovered Rs 14 lakh, which BJP Chikkaballapura MP K Sudhakar’s wife, Preeti, had lost in a cyber fraud through ‘digital arrest’. According to police, the incident took place on August 26.

Digital arrest is a cyber scam in which fraudsters impersonate police or enforcement agency officials and threaten victims through WhatsApp video calls, claiming they are booked in criminal cases.

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Preeti (44), resident of Basaveshwaranagar, Bengaluru, received a WhatsApp call from cyber fraudsters posing as officials from the Mumbai Cyber Crime Police. The fraudsters told her that there had been an illegal transfer of money from her bank account.

They would send her money to the RBI for verification and would transfer it back to her account within 45 minutes. The scamsters also said that if she failed to transfer the money to the account they had specified, she would be arrested.

“By threatening, they got a total of Rs 14 lakh transferred from the complainant’s HDFC Bank account to an unknown YES Bank account and committed fraud,” the police said. Later, the same evening, Preeti complained to the police. The complainant also made a call to the National Cyber Helpline (NCRP) number 1930 within the ‘Golden Hour’ and lodged a complaint, police said.

Accordingly, a case was registered and an investigation was taken up. As a result, the money transferred to the accused’s account was frozen. On September 3, the 47th ACJM Court issued an order directing YES Bank authorities to return the frozen amount to the complainant’s account.

“Acting on the order, the entire lost amount of Rs 14 lakh was returned to the complainant,” a press note said. Deputy Commissioner of Police of West Division, Girish S, told reporters that efforts are on to trace the accused.

He also appealed to people not to panic if they fall victim to such scams. “If a complaint is immediately lodged (within Golden Hour) with the National Cyber Helpline (NCRP) number 1930, and a case is registered at the nearest police station without delay, prompt action can be taken to prevent losses,” he said.