Mangaluru: A 58-year-old woman was duped of Rs 1.8 crore by cyber fraudsters posing as Mumbai police officers in a ‘digital arrest’ scam. The complainant stated that on Oct 24, she received a call around 2.45 pm from an unknown number. The caller claimed to be calling from Colaba police station, Mumbai, and informed her that her name came up in a money laundering and human trafficking case, alleging that she took commissions and was now a suspect. The caller told her that she must cooperate with the investigation through a video call.Frightened by the accusations, the complainant joined a video call during which, she was asked to write and send a letter to the caller’s WhatsApp number. Later, through WhatsApp video calls, two unknown persons identifying themselves as police officers, Vinod Rathod and Rajesh Mishra, questioned her about her personal and bank details, including account balances.The next day, they told her that her bank accounts needed to be ‘verified’ and instructed to transfer money for inspection, assuring that the funds would be returned. They warned her not to disclose this matter to anyone, threatening with legal consequences. Terrified, the complainant allegedly transferred a total of Rs 1.8 crore in several instalments via RTGS to various bank accounts between Oct 28 and Nov 11.A case was registered at CEN crime police station.
