Chandigarh: A digital arrest fraud costs a retired colonel and his wife ₹3.4 cr.
An elderly couple in Chandigarh was duped of ₹3.41 crore by scammers posing as ED officials, keeping them under a 10-day “digital arrest.” Police have recovered ₹6 lakh and advised residents to report suspicious calls. In Sector 2-A, an 82-year-old retired army officer named Colonel Dalip Singh and his 74-year-old wife, Ravinder Kaur Bajwa, have lost ₹3.41 crore to scammers posing as Enforcement Directorate (ED) employees. The deception occurred on March 18, when Bajwa was falsely accused of being implicated in a money laundering case by a caller from an unidentified number. The scammer asserted that Bajwa had reportedly received ₹20 lahks as commission for laundering ₹2 crores after selling his bank account details to Naresh Goyal, the jailed owner of Jet Airways, for ₹5 lakh. The scammers used a video chat to show Bajwa his ATM card and said they were looking into a ₹5,038-crore scam to make their plan seem genuine. Additionally, they falsely claimed that Goyal had killed a whistle-blower and their whole family and shared pictures of 24 supposed victims, claiming that one had committed suicide. By claiming that he was the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the Supreme Court, the scammers further threatened him. The scammers promised to set up an online inquiry when Bajwa stated that he was too old to fly to Mumbai for interrogation. During the inquiry, they asked him 15 questions about Naresh Goyal’s case. In an attempt to further influence him, they threatened to ruin his name by revealing his purported role in newspapers if he didn’t comply. Bajwa and his spouse were put under “digital arrest” by the scammers, who told them to never turn off their phones and to refrain from making any calls. This ten-day digital arrest took place between March 18 and March 27. The scammers forced Bajwa to divulge his ₹8.80 lakh bank account amount on March 20. Through the use of fake arrest orders and WhatsApp-shared account-freezing notifications, they coerced him into sending money via real-time gross settlement (RTGS). After receiving digital arrest threats, Bajwa transferred money to several different accounts, leaving his bank account empty. He sent ₹8 lahks on March 20, ₹60 lahks on March 21, ₹80 lakh on March 24, ₹88 lahks on March 25, and ₹1.05 crore on March 27. His wife was the next victim of the scammers in digital arrest, who persuaded him to cancel her fixed deposits (FDs) to “close the case.” The scammers made Bajwa stay on his video call for a full day to keep him under control. They would get in touch with him right away and ask him to switch it on if the call was cut off. They used several phone lines to pose as Mumbai Cyber Crime authorities. They kept calling the numbers of Bajwa and his family. After realizing he had been duped, Bajwa went to the Chandigarh cybercrime police station and lodged a report, which resulted in the filing of a case on April 1. The cyber police station received a formal complaint (FIR) filed under Sections 308, 319(2), 318(4), 336(3), 338, 340(2), and 61(2) of the BNS. From the misplaced money, the Chandigarh Police were able to retrieve ₹6 lakh. Residents have been advised by police to exercise caution and refrain from giving out money or personal information to strangers over the phone. They have recommended reporting strange calls to the cyber-crime digital arrest helpdesk and checking with the authorities for any legal notices (1930).
