Elderly medical practitioner duped of Rs46 lakh in digital arrest fraud

Pune: Online fraudsters posing as Mumbai Crime Branch personnel allegedly cheated an 87-year-old medical practitioner from Prabhat Road of Rs46 lakh last month after threatening to arrest him in a bogus money laundering case.

According to the Pune Cyber police, the victim had initiated a few other transactions valued at Rs 25 lakh in favour of the fraudsters. The amount was not credited to the fraudsters’ accounts because of a mobile network failure.

The fraud occurred between May 24 and 26. The medical practitioner lodged a complaint with the Pune Cyber police on Sunday, following which the FIR was transferred to the Deccan Gymkhana police for investigation.

Senior Inspector Swapnali Shinde of the Pune Cyber police said, “The retired medical practitioner worked with a prominent international health organisation and is now settled in Pune. He has two sons, both based in the USA.”

She said, “The suspects made a video call to the medical practitioner and claimed to be officials of the Mumbai Crime Branch. They told him that they were investigating a money laundering case involving a former airline owner. The fraudsters claimed that individuals involved in the case misused the medical practitioner’s Aadhaar card. They told him that the investigation was being conducted under the directive of the Supreme Court and threatened him with arrest.”

Shinde said, “The fraudsters kept him under constant pressure by repeatedly warning him of arrest. They later offered to settle the case in lieu of money and shared details of six different bank accounts. Believing their claim, the medical practitioner transferred money to these accounts through his mobile banking facility. In total, he transferred Rs46 lakh to the fraudsters. He also attempted additional transactions of Rs25 lakh, but the money was not transferred because of a mobile network failure.”

She said, “The complainant was preparing to transfer more money when he decided to conduct an online search about ‘digital arrest’. He then realised that he had fallen victim to a fraud.”