76-year-old Hubballi man loses Rs 1 crore to digital arrest scam

HUBBALLI: A 76-year-old man from Hubballi was cheated of Rs 1.07 crore by cyber scammers who posed as Mumbai police officials and claimed that the victim was under digital arrest. This is the first case of its kind in Hubballi where a person has been cheated out of such a huge amount using this modus operandi.

The victim, Nagesh Sharma, a resident of Vinay Colony in Keshwapur, received a WhatsApp video call from the scammers who claimed to be from the Colaba police station in Mumbai. They told Sharma that he had opened a bank account in Mumbai and was involved in a transaction with a banned PFI leader, O M Abdul Salam. The scammers further claimed that a case had been registered against Sharma at the Colaba police station and that he needed to pay money to get out of the case.

Believing the scammers, Sharma transferred Rs 1,07,80,600 to different bank accounts through RTGS. Later, when he realised that he had been cheated, he filed a complaint with the police. The case has been registered at the cyber crime police station and the police are investigating the matter.

The police have appealed to the public to be cautious and not to fall prey to such scams. Police commissioner, N Shashikumar, has urged people to be vigilant and report any such incidents to the police immediately. “On October 31, Nagesh Sharma (76), a private firm employee, received a video call from a man claiming to be from the Colaba police station saying he had financial transactions with O P Abdul who belonged to a banned organisation and threatened him. The caller told Nagesh that a team had come to arrest him or to pay up to save him in the case. Later, Nagesh payed up Rs 1.07 crore in three transactions”, the police commissioner told Public TV.

“We have not been able to identify where the call originated from and not much money could be frozen after we called 1903. The money has been transferred to other accounts. Despite awareness being created, it is said that even educated people are falling for this type of scam. There is nothing called digital arrest. Whatever these callers say, do not pay any amount and people should mostly speak in Kannada”, he advised.