83-year-old retd govt official from Pune dies of heart attack after losing Rs 1.2 crore in ‘digital arrest’ scam
PTC Web Desk: An 83-year-old retired government official from Pune died of a heart attack barely a month after being cheated of Rs 1.2 crore in a shocking “digital arrest” scam, police officials said on Thursday.
According to the Cyber Police Station, the victim and his wife were targeted by fraudsters posing as police and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials. The scammers claimed that the elderly man’s name had surfaced in a money-laundering case linked to a prominent business figure.
In August, the victim received a phone call from someone claiming to be an officer from Colaba police station. The caller falsely linked him to the “Naresh Goyal money-laundering case.” Soon after, he was contacted through a video call by two men posing as senior officers, one identifying himself as IPS officer Vijay Khanna and the other as CBI officer Daya Nayak, who allegedly threatened arrest for him and his wife.
The couple was forced to remain on a continuous video call for hours, with the fraudsters claiming they were under “digital arrest.” Under the guise of verifying their bank accounts, the scammers coerced the couple to transfer Rs 1.19 crore into multiple bank accounts between August 16 and September 17, promising that the money would be returned once their names were “cleared.”
When the police advised the couple to lodge an FIR, they said they would do so after their daughter returned from abroad. Unfortunately, the victim suffered a fatal heart attack last week before any complaint was filed.
“The heart attack and the fraud cannot be directly linked, but the incident deeply affected him,” an official said. After his demise, his wife and daughter approached the Cyber Police Station. A case has now been registered, and further investigation is underway.
- With inputs from agencies
