Just a few months after receiving a life-changing ₹50 crore from liquidating his stake in a pharmaceutical firm, a 72-year-old Mumbai resident found himself trapped in one of India’s most elaborate cyber frauds — a ₹58-crore “digital arrest” scam that left investigators stunned by its sophistication.
According to investigators, the man had received the windfall “earlier this year” after selling off his shares in a pharma company he co-founded.
For a retired professional with a comfortable life, it seemed like the beginning of financial security for his twilight years.
But what followed was a nightmare that spanned 40 days, multiple cities, and a web of deceit stretching from Mumbai to Gujarat and Rajasthan.
The Call That Changed Everything
On August 19, the man received a video call from someone claiming to be an official from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The caller accused him of using his mobile number to send illegal messages linked to money laundering activities. The tone was authoritative, the credentials appeared legitimate, and within minutes, the victim was drawn into a vortex of fear.
“The scamsters told him his accounts were under investigation and that the Mumbai Crime Branch was monitoring him,” an officer said. “To make it believable, they used fake courtrooms, police stations, and ID cards in the video calls.”
From that moment, the couple — the man and his wife, a retired banking professional — were psychologically imprisoned. What the scammers called a “digital arrest” soon became a terrifying reality.
Under Virtual Custody
For the next 40 days, the man lived under constant surveillance. His phone camera remained on at home — so that the “officers” could watch him — while he and his wife made frequent visits to four different banks.
Over 27 days, they transferred staggering sums of money under the guise of “verifying illegal funds.”
The scammers insisted that the funds were to be “checked for legitimacy” and would be returned.
Convinced by their fake documents and constant intimidation, the couple kept complying.
Between August 19 and September 29, they transferred a total of ₹58.13 crore via RTGS into multiple accounts supplied by the fraudsters.
“They were so terrified they didn’t tell anyone — not the bank, not their neighbors, not even their children studying abroad,” said an investigator.
The psychological manipulation was relentless.
When the scammers demanded the final ₹2 crore from the wife’s account on September 30, the couple finally confided in a friend, who immediately recognized it as a scam.
The Aftermath and Investigation
It took the couple 11 days to muster the courage to approach the Maharashtra Cyber Police.
The delay, officers said, likely cost them the chance to recover more of the stolen funds.
So far, investigators have managed to trace and freeze ₹3.5 crore of the defrauded amount.
“Once the complaint came in, we launched a full-scale forensic audit,” said ADG Yashasvi Yadav of Maharashtra Cyber.
“Our analysis uncovered over 6,500 mule accounts spanning 13 transaction layers.
These accounts were mostly opened in the names of shell companies to bypass scrutiny for high-value transfers.”
The Arrests and Modus Operandi
The Maharashtra Cyber Police have since arrested seven suspects, all residents of Mumbai and nearby areas.
These individuals allegedly lent their bank accounts for a commission, helping to funnel the stolen money through a labyrinth of transfers.
DIG Sanjay Shintre, who is overseeing the case, said, “We suspect the fake video calls originated from Rajasthan and Gujarat, while the local handlers in Mumbai managed the banking channels.”
Investigators discovered that after each transfer, the scamsters often withdrew funds using cheques, only to redeposit them into fresh, unlinked accounts — effectively breaking the audit trail and making the money nearly impossible to trace.
The Ongoing Hunt
With nine police teams working simultaneously, the probe is expanding nationwide.
Officers are coordinating with banks, cyber experts, and financial intelligence units to track digital footprints and IP addresses connected to the scam’s origin.
The case has exposed a growing cybercrime trend where scammers exploit fear and authority to “digitally imprison” victims.
For the elderly Mumbai couple, the ordeal has left deep psychological scars — and a warning for thousands of others.
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