A retired Indian Army colonel and his wife were allegedly duped of ₹49 lakh by cybercriminals who placed them under "digital arrest" in Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh, the police said on Friday.
According to the complaint, the colonel received a WhatsApp video call from a person posing as an “officer of the Mumbai Crime Branch”. The suspected fraudster claimed that the retired army officer’s Aadhaar number had been used to obtain four SIM cards and open a bank account in Mumbai, which was allegedly used to launder ₹2 crore.
The fraudster further threatened to investigate the couple’s bank accounts. Under this pretext, the couple was kept under constant surveillance via video calls for more than 11 hours a day since first receiving a call on March 23. During this period, the victims were forced to keep their video call on while transferring money via RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) to the account number provided by the fraudster, according to the complaint.
The fraudster claimed that their funds were being investigated and he demanded money from them. The complainant transferred ₹9 lakh on March 29 and ₹40 lakh on April 4. The couple were kept under “digital arrest” till April 7. When they realised they had been scammed, they filed a police complaint on April 10.
A case of cheating has been registered at the Cyber Crime police station in Mandi and the authorities have managed to freeze Rs 5.58 lakh in some suspicious accounts so far. The fraudster had moved the money that the couple had transferred to 22 different accounts, the police said.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (Cyber Crime) Mohit Chawla said there is no legal provision for “digital arrest” and urged citizens not to fall victim to such fraudulent tactics.
"Do not fall prey to fraudsters and lose your life's savings. If you receive any suspicious call or message, immediately contact the toll free 1930 number," he advised
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