Representative image showing a police officer.
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Mangaluru: A swift action by personnel of the Mangaluru CEN police station helped a 79-year-old woman from Bejai, Mangaluru, recover Rs 17 lakh that she was tricked into transferring online after being threatened with a “digital arrest.”
DCP (Law and Order) Mithun H N said the elderly woman received a call from an unknown person at 10 am on October 23, claiming that an arrest warrant had been issued against her. The caller threatened that she would be arrested unless she deposited her money into a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) account for “verification.” She was also warned not to disclose the matter to anyone, or she would be taken into custody.
Terrified by the threats, the woman followed the instructions. The fraudsters kept her engaged on a phone call for over five hours and even conducted a WhatsApp video call impersonating police officers and a judge to make the scam appear genuine. As the woman did not have UPI payment access, the scammers instructed her to visit her bank, liquidate her fixed deposits and savings, and transfer the money. She visited the bank branch and transferred Rs 17 lakh via RTGS to the account provided by the fraudsters around 3 pm the same day.
Later that evening, around 6 pm, she confided in a neighbour, who immediately took her to the CEN police station at 7 pm The police immediately registered a complaint and contacted the 1930 Cybercrime Helpline, successfully freezing the Rs 17 lakh in the beneficiary account. The concerned bank manager was also alerted.
The DCP said a formal report was submitted to the court on October 24. After the intervening holidays on October 25 and 26, the court, on October 27, ordered the release of the frozen amount to the victim’s account.
DCP Mithun urged citizens to stay alert and avoid falling prey to such scams. Victims of cyber fraud should immediately contact the nearest police station or dial 1930, as early intervention greatly increases the chances of recovering lost money.
“There is no such legal process as a ‘digital arrest’ in India. No agency — including the police, judiciary, CBI, or ED — ever demands money transfers or deposits under such a pretext,” the DCP clarified.
He also warned citizens against digital investment scams, especially those involving unauthorised share trading or fake demat accounts not approved by the RBI or SEBI.
Explaining the call merging scam, the DCP said it is a social engineering tactic where a scammer tricks the victim into merging a call with an automated bank line to steal one-time passwords (OTPs). People should avoid merging calls from unknown numbers, download only trusted apps, and never share OTPs.
The DCP further cautioned against SIM swapping — where scammers obtain a duplicate SIM card linked to a victim’s number — and advised citizens to remain vigilant at all times.