Fake Supreme Court, fake cop and even a fake judge! Mumbai woman, 80, pays Rs 30L for bail from 'digital arrest'

Nitasha Natu & Mateen Hafeez / TNN / Updated: Apr 7, 2025, 16:24 IST

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An 80-year-old woman in Mumbai was duped out of Rs 30 lakh in a digital arrest scam involving a fake Supreme Court online hearing. Fraudsters posing as telecom authorities and a CBI director coerced her into paying the amount to avoid false accusations and threats of arrest.

Fake Supreme Court, fake cop and even a fake judge! Mumbai woman, 80, pays Rs 30L for bail from 'digital arrest'

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MUMBAI: An 80-year-old woman from the eastern suburbs lost Rs 30 lakh to fraudsters who created a fake Supreme Court courtroom as part of a digital arrest scam.
An “online hearing” took place in the "courtroom" with a fake judge and fake policeman in attendance. The East Cyber Police registered an FIR on March 29.
The senior citizen lives with her son. On Jan 15, she received a phone call from a woman who claimed to be a telecom authority employee. She told the complainant that her mobile number was being misused and a complaint had been lodged in this connection with the Colaba Police station. She added that the number would be deactivated soon and then transferred the call to a man who claimed he was inspector Vijay Khanna.
Khanna inquired with the complainant about her whereabouts on Oct 3, 2024. She said she couldn't remember. Khanna then stated that she was involved in money laundering and had links with “Goyal and Kejriwal.” She was threatened that if she failed to cooperate in the investigation, her son would face arrest and her bank account would be freezed.

The complainant replied that she did not know any Goyal or Kejriwal and Khanna could speak to her son. But she was threatened that her case was a secret and she shouldn't speak to anyone about the goings-on. She was told that 280 people had lost money in the scam that she was involved in.
The fraudsters told her that the SC would conduct an online hearing in her case and she should dress in white for it. On Jan 18, around 10 am, she was connected to an "online courtroom" where she could see a "judge" and a "policeman." She was asked to pay up Rs 30 lakh to secure bail and lie to her son to obtain the money. A letter signed by the "CBI director" was also sent to her.
On Jan 24, she transferred Rs 30 lakh to the fraudsters. In a few days, she was asked to remain present for another SC hearing and pay more money. This time, she told her son who asked her to disconnect the call as it was a scam. She then contacted the cybercrime helpline.

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