Woman duped of ₹30 lakh in ‘digital arrest’ scam

Unidentified fraudsters extorted ₹30 lakh from a 67-year-old woman in Indore by claiming that her name had surfaced in a terror case investigation and putting her under so-called digital arrest, police said on Friday (December 12, 2025).

‘Digital arrest’ is a form of cyber fraud where fraudsters pose as law enforcement officers and threaten people through audio or video calls, forcing them to transfer money online.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajesh Dandotiya said the woman received a call on November 23 from a person who introduced himself as a Superintendent of Police posted in Jammu and Kashmir.

“The fraudster told the woman that a mobile phone seized from a terrorist had revealed clues to money laundering worth ₹2,300 crore, and the woman's bank account had been used for it. He also claimed that the woman had received ₹1.50 crore in exchange for the money laundered," said the official.

She needed to transfer the money in her account to ‘government accounts’ for ‘verification’, otherwise she would be arrested, the fraudster threatened.

Frightened, the woman continued to obey the man's instructions from November 23 to December 3 and transferred some ₹30 lakh of her savings.

"The woman lives alone in her home. Her two sons are abroad. Scared by the fraudster's threats, she did not tell anyone anything for several days. Later, she mustered up the courage to narrate her ordeal to her daughter and son-in-law and reported the fraud to the police," the official said.

Probe is underway, he added.