Money Trail From Rs 67 Lakh Fraud Leads Police To 'Digital Arrest' Victim

A senior citizen living alone in Delhi's Janakpuri came close to losing money to cyber fraudsters, but Delhi Police reached her first. Her case came to light only because investigators were following the money trail in an unrelated Rs 67 lakh digital arrest fraud, a trail that led them to her door in time to prevent her from losing more money.

The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations Unit (IFSO) of Delhi Police was investigating a digital arrest fraud reported on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, in which Rs 67,30,300 was allegedly defrauded from a victim on 20 September.

While investigating, the IFSO team followed the movement of the defrauded funds and identified a mule account with Axis Bank, held in the name of a private limited company based in Nagori, Karnataka.

Further checks on transactions flowing into that Axis Bank account led investigators to a separate savings account with South Indian Bank. At this stage, police could not immediately tell whether this second account was another mule account being used by the fraudsters, or whether it belonged to a fresh victim who was unknowingly sending money into an account controlled by the fraud network.

A closer look at the account details and transaction pattern indicated that the South Indian Bank account belonged to a genuine individual, and that it may have been used in a cyber fraud without the account holder's knowledge, according to Delhi Police.

The account holder was traced to an address in Janakpuri, West Delhi. A team from IFSO, including Inspector Parveen Kumar and other personnel, went to meet her and found that she was a senior citizen living alone. According to police, she was under digital arrest when they found her and she was severely distressed.

According to investigators, the woman was told by fraudsters that her Aadhaar details were found to be connected with money laundering and that her bank account was found to be used in a blast in Jammu and Kashmir. 

“The victim got a call from a woman who informed her that she is from the CBI. The fraudster told the victim that all her bank accounts would be frozen. The fraudsters made her transfer Rs 60 lakh. The investigating team is trying to stop the processing,” a senior police officer said.

Read: IIT Graduate, Bank Manager Among 6 Arrested In Rs 1 Crore Digital Fraud Case

The intervention helped save the woman's other financial holdings such as mutual funds, shares, among others.

The IFSO team coordinated with the Station House Officer of Janakpuri police station, and a beat constable was sent to the senior citizen's residence.

She was then helped to register a complaint through the National Cyber Crime Helpline, 1930. Police said the complaint has been registered, and further legal steps are now underway, including starting the e-FIR process and trying to trace and freeze the defrauded money.

A digital arrest is a form of cyber fraud in which criminals pose as officials from law enforcement agencies such as the police, Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, Customs or other government bodies, and falsely tell victims they are under investigation or facing arrest.

The fraudsters often keep victims on video or phone calls, sometimes for hours or even days, threatening arrest or legal action unless the victim follows their instructions, which can include transferring money to bank accounts or sharing financial and personal details.