Octogenarian duped of Rs 50 lakh in digital arrest scam in Mumbai

Mateen Hafeez & Nitasha Natu / Mumbai Mirror / Apr 13, 2025, 11:56 IST

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An 82-year-old woman from South Mumbai was defrauded of nearly Rs 50 lakh in a digital arrest scam. Scammers posing as Mumbai Police officers accused her of money laundering and pornography, threatening a three-year prison sentence.

Octogenarian duped of Rs 50 lakh in digital arrest scam in Mumbai

A senior citizen from south Mumbai lost nearly Rs 50 lakh in a digital arrest scam where she was threatened with a prison sentence of three years if she failed to pay up. Besides money laundering, the scammers also accused the woman of pornography. The South Cyber Police registered an FIR on April 1 and are probing further.
The complainant is 82-years-old. She lives with two of her daughters. While her daughters were away at work on Jan 7, she received a video call from an unknown phone number around noon. The caller introduced himself as an officer with Mumbai Police and said his name was Hemraj Koli.
He accused the complainant of money laundering and claimed that her bank account had "links with Naresh Goyal." He also accused her of sending money to Goyal and stated that the police department had all her data. The complainant was accused of pornography and was threatened with a three year prison sentence.
"I was terrified and did not know what to do, given my advanced age," the woman later told the police. The scammers forbade her from discussing the matter with anyone. They told her that if she wanted to be released from the case, she should send them photos of her bank passbooks.

The complainant did as she was instructed. The scammers found out that she had two bank accounts and also learnt her bank balances. They told her that they would have to examine her bank transactions and she would have to send them money, which would be refunded to her once the process was completed. The complainant transferred Rs 49.42 lakh in installments over a period of month.
She kept waiting for her refund but never got anything. When the scammers stopped calling her, she realised that she had been taken for a ride. She then contacted the 1930 cyber crime helpline. Subsequently, she lodged a police complaint. She told investigators that the scammers had also sent her some fake documentation to convince her of their authenticity.

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