A 57-year-old woman has been duped of ₹2,05,16,652 by cyber criminals posing as officials of a courier company and Mumbai Police in a classic “digital arrest” scam. The victim had sold her two plots and an apartment to pay the accused before approaching the police on Thursday after realising she had been cheated for over six months.
According to the complaint lodged on Thursday, the ordeal began on June 19, 2025, when she received a call on her mobile where the caller claimed that a parcel in her name contained drugs and was linked to her Aadhaar card.
She was told that Mumbai Police personnel would “pick her up” for questioning and that she must undergo verification through a video call.
The complainant said she was forced to install an app, after which her email ID was linked to the application. The fraudsters, posing as an Inspector and a Deputt Commissioner of Police (DCP), regularly contacted her — monitoring her activities continuously. Initially speaking in English, they later switched to Hindi after learning that she understood the language.
Over the next several weeks, the scammers allegedly threatened her that her son’s life would be in danger if she did not transfer money. In fear, she sold two plots in Malur, disposed of an apartment in Vignan Nagar, and even took a loan to pay the demanded amounts.
Between June 20, 2025,to till date, she transferred ₹2.05 crore to multiple bank accounts, including transactions of ₹25 lakh, ₹70 lakh, ₹20 lakh, ₹12 lakh, ₹45 lakh, and several smaller deposits ranging from ₹49,000 to ₹99,500.
On Thursday, she was told to visit a “police station” to collect a no-objection certificate and reclaim her money, but she realised she had been conned after visiting the jurisdictional police to get the NOC.
Based on the advise by the police, the victim filed online complaints on the 1930 cybercrime helpline before approaching the Whitefield Division Cyber Crime Police Sation.
The local police have registered a case under several sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)-2023. Efforts are on to track down the accused and block the accounts where the money was transfered.
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Published – November 30, 2025 09:43 pm IST
