A retired doctor from Kalaburagi has become a victim of a 'digital arrest' cyber scam. Scammers, posing as fake officials, scared the couple by citing national security threats and cheated them of Rs 1.79 crore. This massive fraud only came to light when their son, who works in Bengaluru, came home for a visit.
Online scams are getting more and more sophisticated, and cybercriminals are now using people's fear to loot crores. In a shocking new case, a 67-year-old retired doctor from Kalaburagi, Karnataka, has lost a staggering ₹1.79 crore to a high-tech fraud known as "digital arrest."
Here’s how the whole thing unfolded
It all started with a single phone call on July 14. The retired doctor's wife received a call from an unknown person claiming to be from a well-known courier company. The caller scared her by saying a package containing illegal items was being sent to Mumbai in her name. Immediately, the call was transferred to another man, Aman Kumar Sharma, who introduced himself as a senior officer from the "Indian Cyber Crime Control Board" in Mumbai. He told the couple that their Aadhaar card had been used to open a bank account for money laundering and terror financing linked to the banned organisation, 'Popular Front of India' (PFI).
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Threats and 'National Security' Drama
To get their names cleared from the case, the scammers first demanded ₹20 lakh, which they claimed was 10% of the illegal funds. After that, another person, who called himself Sub-Inspector Vishwas Rao, started conducting a fake investigation over WhatsApp video calls. He threatened the couple, telling them it was a matter of "national security" and warned them not to tell anyone about it.
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Scammers Looted ₹1.79 Crore After Forcing Them to Sell Assets
Under the pretext of an investigation, the scammers collected sensitive details from the doctor and his wife, including their bank accounts, fixed deposits (FDs), savings, LIC policies, gold, and property information. Believing the scammers, the couple broke their fixed deposits and withdrew their LIC money. They even took a personal loan of ₹50 lakh on their house and transferred a total of ₹1.79 crore to the scammers' accounts through various transactions.
Son's Visit Finally Exposed the Scam
The truth came out only on August 21, when their son, a software engineer working in Bengaluru, visited them in Kalaburagi. He told his parents about the 'digital arrest' scams that were happening across the country. It was only then that the doctor and his wife realised they had been victims of a massive fraud.
Doctor Files a Complaint
The doctor immediately went to the Kalaburagi CEN (Cyber, Economic and Narcotics) police station on August 28 and filed an official complaint. The police have registered a case of identity theft and cheating. "The criminals used the names of Enforcement Directorate (ED) and National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials to carry out this crime. We are in the process of tracing call records and freezing the bank accounts involved," an investigating officer said.
