Ex-Bank Manager Duped Of Rs 2.2 Crore In Ghaziabad In Digital Arrest Scam

An 84-year-old retired bank manager and his wife were allegedly duped of Rs 2.2 crore by cyber fraudsters who kept them under a "digital arrest" for 12 days in Ghaziabad, police said.

The victims, Ram Prakash Hariya and his wife, residents of Ramprastha Greens Society in Vaishali, received a WhatsApp video call on May 22 from a man claiming to be an official from Delhi's Daryaganj.

The caller allegedly told Hariya that his name had surfaced in the 2023 Canara Bank embezzlement case involving Rs 538 crore. The fraudsters then claimed he was under "digital arrest" and kept the elderly couple under constant surveillance through video calls.

To make the scam appear genuine, the accused allegedly created a fake courtroom setting and questioned the couple for four to eight hours every day. They threatened them with arrest and legal action, forcing them to transfer money into multiple bank accounts.

Under pressure, Hariya even borrowed and took loans worth Rs 70 lakh to meet the fraudsters' demands.

In all, the couple lost around Rs 2.20 crore.

After realising they had been cheated, the victims approached the police. A case has been registered and an investigation is underway to trace the cyber fraudsters.