A 57-year-old Bengaluru woman was conned out of nearly Rs 32 crore in an elaborate "digital arrest" scam, where fraudsters impersonating DHL staff and senior officials from the Cybercrime Department, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allegedly confined her to a month-long virtual custody.
According to the FIR filed on November 14, the ordeal began on September 15, 2024, when the victim received a call from someone claiming to be from DHL, informing her that a package booked in her name from Andheri, Mumbai, contained prohibited items including four passports, three credit cards and MDMA. Although she told them she had not travelled to Mumbai, the caller insisted her identity had been misused and that the matter was being escalated as a cybercrime case.
Before she could respond, the call was transferred to individuals posing as CBI officials. They allegedly threatened her with arrest, claimed strong evidence against her, and warned her against approaching local police, saying criminals who had misused her identity were monitoring her home. Fearing for her family's safety, the victim complied.
The scammers instructed her to install two Skype IDs, through which a man identifying himself as Mohit Handa monitored her continuously through her camera, claiming she was under house arrest. For two days, he allegedly watched her on video before connecting her to another impersonator, CBI officer Pradeep Singh, who verbally abused her, issued threats of arrest, and coerced her into proving her innocence.
The victim said the callers seemed aware of her phone activity and location, which heightened her fear. She was told that the only way to clear her name was to submit details of all her assets for verification by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the RBI. The scammers also produced forged letters from the Cybercrime Department signed under the name Nitin Patel.
Between September 24 and October 22, 2024, she handed over all her bank details. The fraudsters then demanded that 90 per cent of her assets be deposited for clearance. She complied under pressure. Later, she was told to deposit an additional Rs 2 crore as surety, followed by further amounts labelled as taxes.
Even as she remained under daily surveillance through Skype, she received a fake clearance letter on December 1, 2024, and went ahead with her son's engagement on December 6. The prolonged mental and physical stress allegedly left her unwell for more than a month.
The scammers continued demanding money into early 2025, repeatedly assuring her that the deposited amounts would be returned by February. After multiple delays, all communication abruptly stopped on March 26, 2025.
In total, the victim made 187 transactions amounting to Rs 31.83 crore. The scam was carried out primarily through calls and continuous monitoring on her mobile number.
The victim told the police she waited until her son's wedding on June 8 to formally report the matter due to prolonged trauma and recovery.
Police have begun investigating the case.
