Cybercrime rates have rocketed in recent crimes, with one similar case reported from Hyderabad, where an 81-year-old man lost nearly ₹7 crore in a meticulously planned “digital arrest” scam. Authorities said that the scamsters are increasingly targeting elderly citizens.
The police said that the scam started on October 27, 2025, when the victim who is a retired businessman from Somajiguda, received a WhatsApp call from someone who identified himself as “Sunil Sharma” from Blue Dart customer care. The caller said that a parcel was sent by the man from Mumbai to Bangkok, which contained drugs, passports and other items.
The victim straight up denied about sending any such parcel and hung up the phone. However, he was later contacted by another caller who posed as a Mumbai Police officer. The fraudster accused him of involvement in “extortion, drug trafficking, money laundering and terrorist activities.”
Following this, the man was told that he was placed under a so-called “digital arrest” which is a non-existent legal process where scammers keep victims on video calls and force them to comply with their demands by threatening arrest if they fail to cooperate.
Transfer money to verify accounts
According to reports, the fraud was so intense that they kept the man under pressure by forcing him to verify his bank accounts and financial details under the notion of resolving the fabricated case. They at first asked him to transfer Rs 19.80 lakh to “verify” his transactions. Then on October 29, he was persuaded to install Signal app from where they maintained pressure by monitoring his movements.
Over the course of nearly two months, during which they instructed him not to tell family members, friends, bankers or legal advisors and kept him isolated as they worked the scheme, the fraudsters coerced him to liquidate his mutual funds and fixed deposits, which resulted in a transfer of Rs 7.12 crore.
Investigation started by Police
According to police, he ultimately lost a total of ₹7,12,80,000 through six separate transactions, which he transferred to accounts provided by the scammers.
The scam was only discovered on December 29, 2025, when the fraudsters demanded an additional Rs 1.2 crore to apparently “close the case”, following which the man became suspicious, as he had read about similar scams in the news. He then filed a complaint with the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau. Police registered a case and have begun an investigation.
Police officials have started to trace the digital trail left by the scammers and have warned the public that “police never conduct arrests through phone calls or video chats.” Authorities have urged especially elderly citizens to be vigilant and report suspicious calls immediately to the cybercrime helpline.
