- A Bengaluru software professional lost nearly Rs 2 crore in a digital arrest scam
- Fraudsters posed as police and threatened arrest linked to her Aadhaar card
- Victim sold two plots and her flat to pay the scammers and took a bank loan
A Bengaluru-based lecturer was cheated of nearly Rs 2 crore after fraudsters trapped her in a "digital arrest" scam, forcing her to sell her flat and two residential plots to meet their demands.
The victim was working as a lecturer and living with her 10-year-old son in a flat in Vignan Nagar. In June, she received a call from a person posing as a courier official, who claimed that a suspicious piece of baggage linked to her Aadhaar card had been seized.
The call was soon transferred to people claiming to be Mumbai Police officers, who threatened her with arrest and instructed her not to step out until verification was completed.
The fraudsters asked her to install a specific mobile application and warned that her son would face consequences if she did not cooperate.
Fearing for her child's future, she complied with their instructions. She sold two plots in Malur at distress prices and later sold her Vignan Nagar flat as well.
The proceeds from the property sales were transferred to the fraudsters' bank accounts. She also took a loan from a bank and paid the amount to the scammers.
In all, Babita Das lost around Rs 2 crore.
The fraudsters later told her to approach a nearby police station to retrieve the money before abruptly cutting the call. Their phones were subsequently switched off.
The woman has now filed a complaint at the Whitefield Cyber Crime Police Station, and police have launched an investigation into the digital arrest scam.
