Bengaluru woman 'digitally arrested’ for a month, loses ₹32 crore in terrifying cyber scam
A 57-year-old woman from Bengaluru lost nearly ₹32 crore after falling victim to an elaborate “digital arrest” scam in which fraudsters impersonated officials from DHL, the Cybercrime Department, the CBI and the Reserve Bank of India, media reports said.
The scammers allegedly confined her to a month-long virtual surveillance and coerced her into transferring the money over several months.
According to the FIR filed on November 14, the fraud began on September 15, 2024, when the victim received a call from someone claiming to be a DHL employee.
She was told that a parcel booked in her name from Mumbai contained prohibited items, including passports, credit cards, and MDMA, and that her identity appeared to have been misused.
The call was then transferred to individuals posing as CBI officers, who allegedly threatened her with arrest and warned her against approaching local police, claiming she was being monitored by those who had misused her identity.
Under fear, the woman complied with their directions.
The scammers instructed her to install two Skype IDs through which a man identifying himself as “Mohit Handa” continuously monitored her via her phone camera, claiming she was under house arrest.
Another impersonator, calling himself “CBI officer Pradeep Singh,” allegedly issued threats, verbally abused her and forced her to follow their instructions.
The victim stated that the callers appeared to know her phone activity and location, increasing her fear. She was then told to submit details of all her assets for verification by the Financial Intelligence Unit under the RBI.
The scammers also produced forged letters from the Cybercrime Department.
Between September 24 and October 22, 2024, she provided all her bank details. The fraudsters then demanded that she deposit 90% of her assets for “clearance.”
She transferred the money as instructed. Later, she was asked to deposit an additional ₹2 crore as surety, followed by further amounts presented as taxes.
While she remained under continuous Skype surveillance, the scammers sent her a fake clearance letter on December 1, 2024. She went ahead with her son’s engagement on December 6, although the prolonged stress reportedly affected her health.
The demands continued into early 2025, with assurances that the money would be returned by February. Communication stopped abruptly on March 26, 2025.
In total, the victim made 187 transactions amounting to ₹31.83 crore. She told the police that she waited until after her son’s wedding on June 8 to file a complaint due to trauma and recovery.
Police have begun investigating the case.
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