77-year-old Mumbai woman loses Rs 4 crore: WhatsApp call followed by month-long digital arrest News

A 77-year-old woman from south Mumbai was duped of Rs 3.8 crore in a month-long cyber scam in which fraudsters posed as senior law enforcement officials. An elderly housewife, who lives with her retired husband, was held in “digital detention” for a month under the pretext of a fake money laundering case and was threatened with arrest.

The case began when a woman received a WhatsApp call informing her that a package she had allegedly sent to Taiwan had been intercepted by authorities.

The caller stated that the package contained five passports, a bank card, 4 kilograms of clothing and MDMA drugs. When the woman denied sending such a parcel, the caller alleged that her Aadhaar card details were used in the alleged crime.

To add credibility to their claims, the fraudsters linked her to a man who introduced himself as IPS officer Anand Rana. Under the pretext of investigating her role in money laundering, he demanded details of her bank accounts.

Soon after, another fraudster joined the call, posing as an IPS officer, George Mathew from the finance department. He instructed the woman to transfer the money to joint bank accounts for verification, assuring her that the funds would be returned if he found her innocent.

To further consolidate their power, the fraudsters sent her a fabricated notice bearing the stamp of the Criminal Division. They also instructed her to video call for 24 hours to monitor compliance.

The woman initially donated Rs 15 lakh, but the pressure did not end there.

Whenever the video call was interrupted for any reason, the scammers threatened her with restarting the video immediately. This went on for a month, during which the woman was defrauded of almost Rs 4 crore.

The case was taken up by the Mumbai crime branch and a thorough investigation was initiated. Authorities believe the fraud was carefully planned, using intimidation tactics and fabricated evidence to isolate the victim and gain their trust.