In the “Digital Arrest” scam, cybercriminals pose as officials and defraud a Mangaluru woman out of over ₹3 crore.
In a startling instance of cyber fraud, con artists impersonating government and police officials used a sophisticated “digital arrest” scam to defraud a Mangaluru woman out of more than ₹3 crore. Falsely claiming that she was involved in illegal activities and that she would be arrested under the National Security Act (NSA) unless she cooperated with their investigation, the scammers called her.
The scam started when a caller posing as a courier service agent informed her that a suspicious package connected to her had been intercepted. Fraudsters posing as police and drug control bureau officials took over the call shortly after. The scammers coerced the woman into allegedly financing terrorism and money laundering by using forged documents and false identification presented through screen-sharing applications.
The victim was forced to transfer over ₹3 crore through several transactions to accounts under the criminals’ control out of fear of legal action and possible reputational harm. She discovered she had been the victim of a sophisticated cyber extortion scheme only after reaching out to legitimate authorities.
Experts in cybercrime caution that these scams are increasingly focusing on people, taking advantage of their anxiety about potential legal consequences by using advanced digital tools such as spoof calls and deepfakes. Authorities advise the public to be on guard, to confirm any shady calls, to refrain from divulging personal information, and to report threats right away to the official website (cybercrime.gov.in) or the national cybercrime helpline (1930).
