₹3.71 crore ‘digital arrest’ fraud: Mumbai woman tricked through fake hearing with ‘Justice Chandrachud’

A man from Gujarat has been arrested for allegedly receiving a major portion of the ₹3.71 crore cheated from a 68-year-old Mumbai woman in a “digital arrest” scam, a police official said on Monday, according to PTI.

Cyber criminals posed as personnel from Colaba police station in south Mumbai and officials from central agencies. They also staged a fake online court hearing in which one person identified himself as “Justice Chandrachud”.

“The victim, who lives in Andheri West, was kept under constant watch by the fraudsters, who claimed she was under digital arrest in a money laundering case. The crime took place between August 18 and October 13 this year,” the official said.

The scam began on August 18 when the woman received a call from a man claiming to be from Colaba police station. He told her that her bank account had been used for money laundering and warned her not to discuss the matter with anyone.

The fraudster, posing as officer S.K. Jaiswal, obtained her bank details and claimed the case was being transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation. He even made her write a two- to three-page essay about her life and later assured her that he was convinced of her innocence and would help her secure bail.

The fraudsters later arranged a video call in which the woman was made to appear before a person who introduced himself as “Justice Chandrachud”.

“She was asked to submit her investment details for verification, resulting in her transferring ₹3.75 crore into multiple bank accounts over a period of two months,” the official said.

When the calls stopped abruptly, the woman realised she had been cheated and approached the West Region Cyber Police Station. A case was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.

The investigation revealed that the money had been routed through several mule accounts, including one traced to Surat in Gujarat. A mule account is used to receive, move or launder illegal funds, often on behalf of cyber criminals.

A cyber police team arrested a man from Surat last week. Police said he had opened a current account by setting up a fake cloth trading company and allowed cyber fraudsters to use it to park stolen money.

“For the ₹1.71 crore that was kept in his account, he received a commission of ₹6.40 lakh from the cyber fraudsters,” the official said.

The accused has shared details of two alleged masterminds behind the racket, both of whom are currently abroad. One of them reportedly runs an immigration and visa services business. Police said efforts are underway to arrest all those involved.

Digital arrest is an emerging form of cybercrime in which fraudsters pose as police officers, court officials or government agency personnel to intimidate victims through phone or video calls and coerce them into transferring money.

On December 1, the Supreme Court asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct a unified pan-India probe into digital arrest cases and directed all states to give consent under the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act.

 

(With inputs from PTI)