Bengaluru IT Employee Loses Rs 11.8 Cr in ‘Digital Arrest Scam’

In a massive ‘Digital Arrest’ scam, a Bengaluru IT employee lost Rs 11.8 crore in 18 days.

The IT employee fell for the scam after fraudsters impersonating police officers falsely accused him of involvement in money laundering. The scam began on November 11 when the victim received a call from someone posing as a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India officer.

The fraudsters claimed that his SIM card linked to his Aadhaar had been used for illegal activities including the money laundering scheme through his Aadhaar-linked bank accounts and harassment messages. He was also threatened that a case had been filed with Colaba Cyber Police Station. The fraudster warned him against discussing the matter with anyone other he would be arrested like many other influential people who had already been arrested.

They further forced him to a video call and someone posing as a Mumbai police officer accused his involvement in a Rs 6 crore transaction linked to a businessman. They even faked an RBI guideline instructing him to transfer funds to specific accounts for ‘verification purposes’ or face legal action.

The victim transferred a total of Rs 11.8 crore in multiple transactions to various bank accounts over time.

The police are investigating the case now and issued warnings to be aware of the ‘digital arrest’ scam.