Bengaluru woman loses Rs 31.83 crore in six-month digital arrest scam

A 57yearold woman here allegedly lost about Rs 32 crore in a sophisticated digital arrest scam that lasted over six months following which a case has been registeredPosing as CBI officers the fraudsters enforced a digital arrest by holding her under constant Skype surveillanceThey used threats of arrest to coerce her into sharing all financial details and to make 187 bank transfersIn her complaint the software engineer of Indiranagar in the city stated that the ordeal lasted for over six months until she got a clearance letter from the fraudstersIt began on September 15 2024 with a call from a person claiming to be from DHL Andheri alleging that a parcel booked in her name contained credit cards passports and MDMA and said her identity had been misusedBefore the woman could respond the call was transferred to people posing as CBI officers who threatened her and claimed all evidence is against youThe impostors warned her against contacting the police saying criminals were watching her home Fearing for her family and her sons upcoming wedding she remained silentThe woman was instructed to install two Skype IDs and remain on video A man identifying himself as Mohit Handa monitored her for two days followed by Rahul Yadav who watched her for a weekAnother impersonator Pradeep Singh posed as a senior CBI officer and pressured her to prove her innocenceThe complainant further said that the group appeared to know her phone activity and location heightening her fearThey told her to verify all her assets with the Financial Intelligence Unit of the RBI and produced forged letters to make it appear officialFrom 24 September to 22 October Umarani shared details of her finances and transferred large sumsBetween 24 October and 3 November she deposited a supposed surety amount of Rs two crore followed by further payments for taxesShe was promised a clearance letter before her sons engagement on December 6 and received a fake oneThe pressure left the woman mentally and physically unwellFinally the victim received the clearance letter on December 1 allowing the engagement to proceed But she fell seriously ill after that requiring a month of medical treatment to recoverAll this time I had to report over Skype where I am and what I am doing This person Pradeep Singh was in touch daily I was told that money will be returned by February 25 after completion of all procedures she addedPost December the scammers demanded processing charges repeatedly delaying refunds to February then March All communication ceased on March 26 2025The complainant waited until after her sons wedding in June to come forward and lodge a complaintIn total through 187 transactions I stand deprived of a total amount of approximately Rs 3183 crores which were deposited by me she saidThe woman has asked the authorities to investigate the entire incidentThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever