Delhi Woman Loses Rs 7 Crore in 9-Day Digital Arrest by Fake Police, ED Officers
A 70-year-old woman living alone in south Delhi's Greater Kailash-I area fell victim to a sophisticated cyber crime earlier this month. Scammers posing as police and Enforcement Directorate officers kept her under digital arrest in her own home for nine days. They managed to dupe her of nearly Rs 7 crore.
This incident occurred just days after an elderly couple in GK-II lost Rs 15 crore in a similar manner. Police have now managed to put Rs 2.9 crore out of the Rs 7 crore on hold.
The Initial Contact and Threats
The woman received a call on January 5. The caller claimed a SIM card issued in her name was being used for fraudulent activities. She pleaded her innocence, but the caller firmly told her that either she or her children were on the wrong side of the law.
Police sources revealed these details on Thursday. The scammers quickly shifted the conversation to a video call. They asked if there were other people in the house. The woman informed them that her daughter lives in Gurgaon and her son in Australia.
Isolation and Surveillance
When the fraudsters learned that a domestic help comes to the house daily, they instructed the woman to shut the gate. They told her not to tell anyone about their call. Over the following days, the scammers systematically gathered details of her financial assets.
After discovering she had around Rs 7 crore in fixed deposits, they posed as Mumbai Police officers. They levelled false money laundering charges against her. Then they added accomplices to the call who claimed to be ED officers.
The woman was kept under constant surveillance through a second mobile phone. A video call ran round the clock, monitoring her movements throughout the entire period of the digital arrest.
The Financial Transactions
The scammers forced her to carry out three major transactions. She transferred Rs 4 crore and Rs 1.3 crore on January 9. Then she moved another Rs 1.6 crore on January 12. All this money went into bank accounts controlled by the fraudsters.
They even coached her on what to say if bank officials questioned the transactions. When a bank staffer asked about the large withdrawals, she said she was transferring money to her daughter. The official did not ask any further questions.
The Suspicion and Police Action
One day, the woman told the scammers she was not feeling well and her daughter would visit. They immediately instructed her to delete all chats, messages, and bank transaction details. They warned that keeping these records could land her in further trouble.
On the morning of January 14, she received a fake court order demanding Rs 2 crore. This immediately made her suspicious because the fraudsters had previously told her their investigation was over. They tried to explain that courts sometimes require additional payments.
Sensing something was wrong, the woman contacted a relative. The relative told her she had been conned and alerted the police. Officers approached a bank and managed to get Rs 2.85 crore frozen. A case was registered with the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit of Delhi Police on January 14.
This case highlights the growing sophistication of cyber crimes targeting elderly citizens living alone. It follows a similar pattern to the earlier GK-II case where another elderly couple lost Rs 15 crore. Authorities are urging citizens to be vigilant about such digital arrest scams.
