A retired Army officer in his seventies from Pune allegedly lost Rs 1.28 crore after cybercriminals posing as telecom and law enforcement officials threatened him with arrest and pressured him into transferring his savings.
According to the complaint filed with the Pune city cyber police, the fraud began on August 20 when the veteran received a call from a woman claiming to be from the Telecom Headquarters in New Delhi. She allegedly told him that a mobile number registered in his name had been used from Mumbai for fraudulent calls and the circulation of obscene material.
The callers later sent him a purported FIR and images through WhatsApp to make the allegations appear genuine. The victim was subsequently connected with individuals who claimed to be officers of the Mumbai Crime Branch and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
During video calls, one of the suspects reportedly appeared in a police uniform and introduced himself as a CBI officer using the name “Pawar”. Another caller identified himself as a senior officer named “Vijay Khanna”. They questioned the retired officer about his family, bank accounts, fixed deposits and gold holdings, while allegedly warning him that he could be arrested if he failed to cooperate.
The fraudsters then told him that his bank accounts needed to be verified as part of the investigation. Under sustained pressure, he was allegedly instructed to withdraw money from his savings and break his fixed deposits before transferring the funds to accounts provided by the callers.
Between the last week of August and the first week of September, the victim transferred a total of Rs 1.28 crore through multiple transactions. Investigators suspect that the recipient accounts were mule accounts used to move the fraudulently obtained money.
The victim reportedly remained in contact with the callers through repeated voice and video calls. His suspicion increased when the fraudsters continued providing new bank accounts and demanding further transactions.
The scam came to light on September 1 when the veteran’s wife spoke to their daughter, who lives abroad. After recognising the pattern as a digital arrest scam, the daughter alerted her parents. The retired officer subsequently contacted the cybercrime helpline and Pune cyber police, following which an FIR was registered.
Police have not publicly disclosed the identities of the suspects, and the investigation is underway.
The case follows a common digital arrest scam pattern in which criminals impersonate police, CBI, telecom officials or other government authorities. They use fake documents, video calls and threats of arrest to frighten victims into revealing financial information or transferring money.
There is no legal provision for a “digital arrest” in India. Genuine law enforcement agencies do not ask people to transfer their personal savings to private or third-party bank accounts for investigation or verification.
People receiving suspicious calls should immediately disconnect, avoid sharing Aadhaar, bank or OTP details and never transfer money at the caller’s instruction. Any suspected cyber fraud should be reported immediately by calling 1930 or through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. Early reporting can help authorities trace and potentially freeze the transferred funds.
