(Image source from: News9live.com)

A 39-year-old software engineer became a victim of a "digital arrest" scam and lost ₹ 11.8 crore. Fraudsters pretending to be police officers claimed his Aadhaar card was being misused to open bank accounts for money laundering. The fraud occurred between November 25 and December 12. The victim alleged he received a call from someone claiming to be an officer from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, who said his SIM card linked to his Aadhaar card was used for illegal advertisements and harassing messages. A case was supposedly registered at Mumbai's Colaba Cyber Police Station. Later, he received a call from someone claiming to be a police officer, alleging his Aadhaar details were being misused to open bank accounts for money laundering. The fraudster warned him to keep the matter confidential and threatened physical arrest if he did not cooperate with the virtual investigation.

The man received a Skype call from someone claiming to be a Mumbai police officer, who alleged that a businessman had opened a bank account using the man's Aadhaar to conduct ₹ 6 crore worth of transactions. Later, another person in police uniform called the man over Skype and claimed that the case was being heard in the top court, threatening to arrest the man's family if he did not comply. The fraudsters used fake RBI guidelines to ask the man to transfer funds to certain accounts for "verification purposes", threatening legal consequences if he did not. Fearing arrest, the man transferred a total of ₹ 11.8 crore to various bank accounts. When the fraudsters demanded more money, the man realized he had been scammed and filed a complaint with the police. The police have registered a case under the IT Act and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for cheating and impersonation, and the investigation is ongoing.