Fraudster posing as police officer dupes PSU worker of Rs 27 lakh in digital arrest
The victim, a retired govt employee, initially received a phone call claiming that he had outstanding credit card dues, according to cybercrime police. Taking advantage of his fear, the fraudsters told the couple they were under ‘digital arrest’ and threatened to implicate family members in a drug case if they failed to comply with their instructions. When he denied owning a credit card, he received a WhatsApp call from a person impersonating an IPS officer.
After four months, the victim realised he had been duped and approached the police, who registered a case and launched an investigation. The caller claimed that the victim’s name had surfaced during an investigation into a person identified as Sandeep Kumar in connection with the Pahalgam terror attack case and that a case had been registered against him. The fraudsters repeatedly contacted the victim and shared details about his grandson living in the United States and his granddaughter’s daily travel route to work, making him believe they were genuine security officials. On multiple occasions, the accused allegedly forced the victim to transfer money on the pretext of account verification and investigation procedures.