Pune: Fraudsters posing as telecom officials and Mumbai police officers cheated a 76-year-old retired professor from Bavdhan of Rs 1.7 crore in a digital arrest scam .
The fraud occurred between Aug 20 and Oct 11. The woman approached the police, after which the Pimpri Chinchwad cyber cell managed to block Rs 27 lakh of her money. The police have managed to block Rs 27 lakh of the defrauded amount and have sought transaction details from the woman’s bank, Gaikwad said.
The caller told her she would be arrested and to expect a call from the police. “The caller then assured her that he could help her and asked for details of her savings, fixed deposits, investments and gold jewellery,” Gaikwad said. Subsequently, she received a video call, also from an unknown number. The second caller claimed to be from the Mumbai police and alleged she was involved in a money-laundering racket. He accused her of receiving money through the racket into her bank account. Threatening to arrest her, he showed her a fabricated Supreme Court arrest warrant and a copy of the alleged complaint.