Digital Arrest Scam: Mumbai’s Peddar Road Couple Duped of Rs 4.52 Crore by Fake Police Officers

A chilling digital arrest scam has come to light in Mumbai, where a 74-year-old businessman and his 77-year-old wife from the upscale Peddar Road area of South Mumbai lost approximately Rs 4.52 crore to cyber fraudsters posing as senior police officers, Anti-Terrorism Squad officials, and even Supreme Court functionaries. The digital arrest scam unfolded over more than 20 days, with the criminals using threats, forged legal documents, and relentless video surveillance to keep the elderly couple trapped.

The South Cyber police have registered a case of cheating and impersonation against unidentified persons, officers said. The digital arrest scam is the latest in a fast-growing wave of cybercrimes targeting senior citizens across India.

Digital Arrest Scam: How It Started

According to the FIR, the ordeal began on September 19, when the businessman received a call from an unidentified number. The caller introduced himself as Chirag Rawal from the Colaba police station — or police headquarters — and claimed that a SIM card registered in the complainant’s name had been used to commit a crime.

The caller then accused the businessman and his wife of being involved in financial fraud and demanded that they obtain a “non-involvement certificate” to prove their innocence. When the businessman denied owning the SIM card, the call was abruptly transferred — the classic escalation playbook of a digital arrest scam.

The ATS and “IPS Officer” Act

The second caller identified himself as Rahul Yadav from the ATS headquarters in Lucknow. He claimed that a bank account opened in the businessman’s name — at an ICICI Bank branch in Hubballi, Karnataka — had been used to launder a large sum of money.

A third man then joined in, introducing himself as Sandeep Rao, an IPS officer associated with the ATS. He allegedly warned the businessman that the case involved national security and that he could be arrested if he discussed it with anyone — the psychological lock that keeps every digital arrest scam victim silent.

“They even had a video call with the complainant on WhatsApp,” a police officer told reporters. “They sent him an arrest warrant and an asset seizure order issued by the Supreme Court. The document carried his Aadhaar number and a purported signature of the Chief Justice of India. It also cited the Official Secrets Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, so the complainant believed it was original.”

Forged Supreme Court Documents and Video Surveillance

What made this digital arrest scam so convincing was its elaborate documentation. The fraudsters sent the couple:

Fake bank statements showing suspicious transactions linked to the couple’s accounts. A photograph of an ICICI Bank card purportedly issued in the businessman’s name. A forged arrest warrant and asset seizure order bearing the Supreme Court’s name, the victim’s Aadhaar number, and the purported signature of the Chief Justice of India.

The accused then initiated video calls lasting around three hours through WhatsApp numbers allegedly operating under the name “ATS,” keeping the couple under near-continuous video surveillance. This is the defining feature of a digital arrest scam: the victim is told they are “under digital arrest” and must remain on camera, isolated from family, while the criminals dictate their every move.

Over the following days, manipulated into believing that transferring money was part of an official “verification” or “clearance” process, the couple sent substantial sums to accounts specified by the fraudsters — Rs 4.52 crore in total.

Digital Arrest Scam: Why Seniors Are the Prime Targets

Police and cybercrime experts say the digital arrest scam playbook is deliberately engineered to exploit the fears and habits of older citizens. Senior citizens tend to trust authority figures, are less familiar with digital verification tools, and often hold significant savings — making them ideal targets.

The scammers pose as representatives of the Mumbai Police, the Anti-Terrorism Squad, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Supreme Court of India, and even the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The sheer weight of these institutions, combined with threats of immediate arrest, overwhelms the victim’s judgment.

In this case, the fraudsters also invoked national security — telling the couple that discussing the matter with anyone, including their own children, would amount to obstructing a national-security investigation. That single instruction ensured the digital arrest scam could run for weeks without anyone intervening.

Police Response and the Money Trail

The South Cyber police have registered a case of cheating and impersonation against unidentified persons. Officers are now tracing the money trail across the beneficiary bank accounts to identify the operatives and any organized network behind the digital arrest scam.

Investigators say the fraudsters typically route money through layers of mule accounts within hours of receiving it, making recovery difficult. The longer a victim waits to report, the colder the trail becomes — which is why police urge victims to call the national cybercrime helpline 1930 immediately.

Digital Arrest Scams Are Exploding Across India

This digital arrest scam is far from an isolated incident. Cyber police across India have reported a surge in such cases:

In October last year, a 72-year-old Mumbai businessman lost a staggering Rs 58 crore to fraudsters posing as CBI and ED officials over two months, realizing the truth only after the money had been spread across 18 bank accounts. In another case, a Mulund man was duped of Rs 12 lakh before a warning video shared by his wife helped him realize he was being scammed.

Earlier, a retired banker and his wife in Mumbai were forced to stay on a continuous video call for three days and lost Rs 50.5 lakh to criminals impersonating NIA officers. Each case follows the same digital arrest scam template: impersonation, forged documents, isolation, and relentless pressure.

How to Protect Yourself From a Digital Arrest Scam

Police and cybercrime experts say there is one golden rule: there is no such thing as a “digital arrest” in Indian law. No police officer, CBI agent, judge, or RBI official will ever arrest you over a video call, demand money for “verification,” or ask you to stay on camera.

If you receive such a call: hang up immediately and call the national cybercrime helpline 1930 or report the incident at cybercrime.gov.in. Never share OTPs, Aadhaar details, or bank credentials with unknown callers. Do not transfer money to “prove” your innocence — no genuine investigation works that way. And talk to a family member: scammers survive on secrecy, and a single conversation with a relative can break the spell of a digital arrest scam.

Share this story with elderly relatives. In almost every digital arrest scam, the victims later say they had heard of such frauds but never imagined it could happen to them.

The Mumbai cyber police have also appealed to banks to flag large, unusual transfers by elderly customers as potential digital arrest scam activity, and to pause suspicious transactions while the customer is contacted through verified channels. Officers say early intervention — even a single phone call from a bank manager or relative — can stop a digital arrest scam before the money leaves the victim’s account.

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Source: Hindustan Times — 74-year-old Peddar Road resident loses Rs 4.5 cr to digital arrest fraud