Digital Arrest Fraud on the Rise in Prayagraj, Elderly Couple Loses ₹12.20 Lakh

Prayagraj: Cybercrime cases involving “digital arrest” are increasing rapidly in the city. Within a week, a second such case has been reported. Earlier this month, a retired PWD superintendent engineer was kept under digital arrest for ten days and cheated of ₹22.50 lakh. Now, a retired bank employee from Mumfordganj and his wife have become victims of a similar fraud, losing ₹12.20 lakh.

According to police, the scammers pretended to be officials from the Mumbai Police. They falsely accused the victim of sending objectionable messages from his mobile number and threatened him with arrest. The criminals even sent a fake Supreme Court writ to make their claims appear genuine.

The incident began on November 14 around 6:30 PM, when the retired bank employee received a call from an unknown number. The caller introduced himself as Rajiv Sinha, claiming to be a representative of TRAI. He alleged that multiple mobile numbers were linked to the victim’s Aadhaar card and that objectionable messages were being sent from them. He then transferred the call to another number, supposedly belonging to the Mumbai Police.

On this call, people posing as Sub-Inspector Vijay Khanna and ACP Nayak from the so-called Colaba Police Station told the victim that an arrest warrant had been issued against him in a money-laundering case. The scammers warned him not to speak to anyone.

On November 16, the fraudsters sent a fake Supreme Court writ, and the next day, using more fake documents, they instructed the victim to break his fixed deposits. He was then forced to transfer ₹12.20 lakh through RTGS to an account named Swami Sales Services & Marketing Bank at Bandhan Bank’s Jalgaon branch in Maharashtra.

While the victim went to his bank to make the transfer, the scammers kept his wife under “digital arrest,” constantly monitoring her through calls.

Cybercrime police station in-charge Om Narayan Gautam confirmed that an FIR has been registered and the investigation is underway. He also urged people to remain cautious and immediately report any suspicious calls claiming to be from government agencies.