Septuagenarian from Coimbatore defrauded of ₹5.5 crore in ‘digital arrest’ scam
A 72-year-old businessman in Coimbatore was defrauded of ₹5.5 crore by cybercriminals posing as police officers. The scammers used a 'digital arrest' tactic to coerce the victim into transferring funds under the guise of a financial investigation.
Why it matters
This incident highlights the growing prevalence of sophisticated 'digital arrest' scams targeting elderly individuals in India.
Cyber fraudsters posing as law enforcement officers defrauded a 72-year-old man from Coimbatore of ₹5.5 crore by putting him under ‘digital arrest’ - a false concept used as a cybercrime tactic to extort money from gullible victims.
Police sources said that a businessman from a residential area at R.S. Puram was cheated of the money by scamsters who posed as officers of the Mumbai Police.
According to the police, scamsters impersonating police officers contacted the businessman and told him that his bank accounts were involved in fraudulent transactions. They told him that he was kept under digital arrest for the investigation and asked him to transfer the money from his bank account to them for a verification process. The businessman transferred ₹5.5 crore to the scamsters in two transactions on Monday and Tuesday. The cybercriminals further forced him to transfer a fixed deposit (FD) of ₹3 crore.
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