Hyderabad woman loses Rs 21 lakh in fake digital arrest scam

A 68-year-old Hyderabad woman was allegedly duped of Rs 21 lakh in a digital arrest scam after fraudsters posing as telecom, police and CBI officials threatened her with arrest over alleged illegal activities and pressured her into transferring money.

Hyderabad: Cyber criminals allegedly duped a 68-year-old woman to the tune of Rs 21 lakh by threatening her with a fake digital arrest and claiming that she was involved in illegal activities.

The woman who is a resident of R.K. Puram Colony, has been living alone since her husband’s death. On September 1, she received a call from a man identifying himself as telecom official Prasad. Later, another man, Rajesh Kumar, introduced himself as a legal advisor.

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The suspect allegedly told the elderly woman that her name was linked to illegal activities and threatened to arrest her. “Posing as police and CBI officials, they allegedly conducted a fake interrogation through video calls and kept her under psychological pressure,” officials said.

Fearing arrest, she transferred Rs 21 lakh to bank accounts provided by the cyber criminals. When they continued to threaten her and demanded that she transfer more money, she informed her son on September 5.

Her son subsequently approached the Cybercrime police and lodged a complaint on Sunday.

Police are now investigating into the fraud and the bank accounts used to receive the money.