Pune: 69-year-old loses ₹1 crore to 'digital arrest' scam
A retired 69-year-old from Pune lost ₹1 crore in December 2024 after falling for a "digital arrest" scam.
Posing as Mumbai police, scammers falsely accused him of terrorism and money laundering, threatened him with jail time, and convinced him he was under investigation by national agencies.
How the scam worked—and why it matters
The fraudsters got hold of his Aadhaar and bank details, then pressured him into transferring money to accounts across multiple cities with promises of refunds that never came.
Digital arrest scams like this are exploding—cases tripled between 2022 and 2024, with total losses jumping from ₹91 crore to nearly ₹2,000 crore.
Victims come from all walks of life, and Maharashtra now tops the country in cyber crime complaints.
Stay alert—these scams are getting smarter every year.