Hyderabad: An 81-year-old retired businessman from Somajiguda, Hyderabad, has lost ₹7.12 crore (over 7 crore) in an elaborate "digital arrest" scam. Cybercriminals impersonating law enforcement officials extorted the money by falsely accusing him of involvement in drug trafficking, terrorism, and money laundering.
The victim's ordeal began on October 27, 2025, when he received a WhatsApp call from an individual posing as Sunil Sharma from a courier company. The caller claimed that a parcel booked in the victim's name from Mumbai to Bangkok contained illegal items, including narcotics and multiple passports.
When the elderly man denied sending such a parcel and disconnected the call, he was soon contacted by another person claiming to be from the Mumbai Police. This second caller accused him of involvement in drug trafficking, money laundering, and terror-related activities, asserting that the police had "strong evidence" against him. The fraudsters told him that a probe was underway and that he had been placed under "digital arrest," warning him not to leave his house and insisting on continuous monitoring through video calls.
To "verify" his financial transactions, the scammers initially coerced the victim to transfer ₹19.80 lakh. On October 29, 2025, he transferred the amount via RTGS to a City Union Bank account, after being assured the amount would be returned. The fraudsters later persuaded him to download the Signal app and disclose details of his investments and savings. Between November and early December, he transferred multiple large sums to accounts of different private companies across banks, taking the total loss to ₹7.12 crore.
On December 29, 2025, the callers allegedly demanded an additional ₹1.2 crore to "close the case". This raised the victim's suspicion after he read about similar "digital arrest" frauds in newspapers. He later lodged a complaint through the 1930 cybercrime helpline.
Police have registered a case, and an investigation is underway. This incident serves as another stark reminder of the increasing sophistication of cyber scams targeting vulnerable individuals.
It is important to note that in a similar incident in Hyderabad in December 2025, an 81-year-old retired employee lost ₹60.2 lakh after fraudsters falsely accused him of links with terrorist organizations. In that case, the victim received a call from someone claiming to be from the "Data Protection Board of India" and was subsequently coerced into transferring funds to RBI accounts for "verification".
