74-Year-Old Bengaluru Woman Cheated Of Rs 24 Crore In Digital Arrest Scam

A major 'Digital Arrest' cyber fraud racket was busted in Bengaluru by the Karnataka State Cyber Command Unit after scammers allegedly cheated a 74-year-old woman of nearly Rs 24 crore by impersonating senior officials from central investigation agencies.

Investigators said the cyber fraudsters posed as high-ranking officials from the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) and psychologically trapped the victim, Lakshmi Ramamurthy, a senior citizen from Bengaluru, through a fake "digital arrest" operation.

Police said the accused convinced the victim that she was under investigation and coerced her into transferring huge sums of money from her ICICI Bank account. Between February 10 and April 24, the victim allegedly transferred nearly Rs 24 crore through 26 separate transactions into 23 mule bank accounts spread across 10 different banks across the country.

Investigators revealed that the fraudsters were attempting to extract even more money from the victim. On April 24, the woman was reportedly in the process of availing a gold loan worth Rs 3 crore to transfer additional funds to the accused.

However, alert officials at ICICI Bank sensed suspicious activity and informed the Karnataka Cyber Command Unit. The cyber team immediately rushed to the spot and counselled the victim, successfully preventing the transfer of the Rs 3 crore to the fraudsters.

Following the intervention, police registered a case and launched a large-scale investigation into the interstate cyber fraud network.

As part of the probe, the Cyber Command Unit tracked the first-layer mule accounts where the proceeds of crime had been routed and laundered. With the help of the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), investigators managed to freeze multiple mule accounts involved in the scam.

Officials said more than Rs 4 crore was successfully frozen during the operation, while an additional Rs 1.46 crore was recovered through court orders. Six accused have been arrested so far, and police also confiscated six mobile phones allegedly used in the commission of the crime.

The arrested accused have been identified as:

1. N. Sivagnanam from Erode, Tamil Nadu  
2. Akkach Mallick from Mumbai, Maharashtra  
3. Palak Bhai Patel from Ahmedabad, Gujarat  
4. Amit Narendra Patel from Ahmedabad, Gujarat  
5. Om Prakash Rajput from New Delhi  
6. Gaurav Kumar from Bihar

The Karnataka State Cyber Command Unit said the investigation is continuing to trace other members of the network and identify the masterminds behind the nationwide cyber fraud operation.