Four more held in ₹58 crore ‘digital arrest’ fraud targeting 72-year-old

Maharashtra Cyber police arrested four more in a ₹58.13 crore scam where a 72-year-old was duped by fraudsters posing as officials.

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Cyber police have arrested four more persons in connection with the massive ‘digital arrest’ scam in which a 72-year-old Mumbai resident was duped of ₹58.13 crore after being coerced by fraudsters posing as law enforcement officials.

Four more held in ₹58 crore ‘digital arrest’ fraud targeting 72-year-old

The arrested accused have been identified as Sheikh Shahid Abdul Salam, 19, Jafar Akbar Sayyed, 33, Abdul Nasir Abdul Karim Khulli, 51, Arjun Fojiram Kadwasara, 52, Jetharam Rahinga Kadwasara, 35, Imran Ismail Sheikh, 22, and Mohammed Naved Sheikh, 26. The police have so far frozen ₹3.5 crore from the defrauded amount lying in mule accounts.

According to investigators, the complainant was first contacted by a person posing as an official of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), who alleged that his mobile number was being used to send illegal messages. The call was then transferred to another fraudster impersonating an officer from the Mumbai Crime Branch, who falsely claimed that the victim’s bank accounts were linked to money laundering activities.

The scammers then told the victim he was under ‘digital arrest’ and that his assets would be seized unless he cooperated. To convince him, they even conducted a fake court proceeding over a video call, during which some of the accused posed as police officers and judges. Believing the staged interaction to be genuine, the victim transferred over ₹58 crore over a span of 40 days.

An FIR has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Investigators analysed Call Detail Records (CDRs), Subscriber Detail Records (SDRs), Customer Acquisition Forms (CAFs) and Internet Protocol Detail Records (IPDRs), which revealed that the calls had originated from foreign IP addresses routed through VPNs and TOR networks.

Further scrutiny of bank records showed that the fraudsters had routed the defrauded amount through more than 6,500 mule accounts opened in the names of shell firms, spread across 13 layers of transactions to disguise the money trail.

Through extensive financial forensics, the cyber police traced several of these accounts to the seven arrested individuals, who either opened or operated mule accounts, received the proceeds in the initial layers of transactions, or helped manage and move funds on behalf of the syndicate.

Police officials said efforts are on to identify the mastermind believed to be operating from abroad. The role of the branch manager of the victim’s bank is also under scrutiny to determine possible negligence or complicity in allowing such large transfers to go through.