Digital arrest scam: Mumbai woman loses Rs 8.75 lakh after caller claims CBI probe linked to Jet Airway's Naresh Goyal

A 58yearold woman from Andheri East in Mumbai was allegedly cheated of Rs 875 lakh in a sophisticated ldquodigital arrestrdquo scam after fraudsters falsely claimed she was linked to a money laundering investigation involving Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal police saidThe victim a senior manager at an engineering company in Vikhroli lives with her 83yearold mother Her son works in the United StatesAccording to police the scammers kept her under constant virtual surveillance for nearly five days and used fake identities forged legal documents and psychological pressure to convince her that she was ldquosuspect number 188rdquo in a major investigation involving 247 accused personsCaller posed as TRAI officerPolice said the fraud began on May 8 at around 1115 am when the woman received a call from a man identifying himself as ldquoAkash Agrawalrdquo from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAIThe caller claimed that an FIR had been registered against her and threatened that her mobile number would be disconnected unless she reached Colaba Police Station within two hoursWhen she informed him that she was at work in Vikhroli and unable to travel immediately the caller allegedly suggested a ldquovideo call inquiryrdquo insteadFake police officers and officials joined video callsShortly afterwards the woman received a WhatsApp video call from another number A woman on the call allegedly asked her to show her Aadhaar card for verificationThe call was then transferred to another man who introduced himself as ldquoVijay Khannardquo from Colaba Police StationPolice said the fraudsters continuously appeared on officialstyle video calls while impersonating telecom officials police officers investigators and judicial authorities to make the operation appear genuineFraudsters used Naresh Goyal investigation storyThe fake officer allegedly informed the woman that the CBI was probing financial transactions connected to Naresh Goyal and claimed that her Aadhaar details had been used to open a suspicious bank accountThe victim was allegedly told that 247 suspects had already been identified and that she was ldquosuspect number 188rdquoAlthough the woman denied owning the account and clarified that the account details did not match her own bank account the fraudsters allegedly insisted she could avoid arrest if she cooperated fullyVictim kept under lsquodigital arrestrsquoPolice said the scammers intensified pressure by instructing the woman not to speak to family members answer phone calls or reveal details of the ldquoinvestigationrdquo to anyoneShe was allegedly told that the matter involved national security and was highly confidentialThe accused kept the video calls active continuously between May 8 and May 13 effectively placing her under a ldquodigital arrestrdquoTo strengthen the deception the fraudsters allegedly sent fake arrest warrants forged Supreme Court orders and fabricated investigation documents through WhatsAppFake lsquojudgersquo appeared during video hearingOn May 10 another caller identifying himself as ldquoAkash Khulharirdquo allegedly informed the woman that a Supreme Court hearing would take place the next dayDuring another video call on May 11 the woman was introduced to a man identifying himself as ldquoSuryakantrdquo who claimed to be a judgeThe fake judge allegedly told her that investigators possessed recordings of her conversations with Naresh Goyal and that they would be sent for forensic examinationLater the woman allegedly received what appeared to be a Supreme Court order asking her to transfer funds for ldquoverificationrdquoThe fake officer instructed her to retain only Rs 50000 and transfer the remaining money into a socalled ldquosecret supervision accountrdquoTransactions made by the victim Rs 658133 transferred on May 11 Rs 217139 transferred on May 12 Total amount cheated Rs 875272Police said the woman became suspicious on May 13 when the accused allegedly demanded that she also transfer money from her PF accountShe then disconnected the call ignored further communication and contacted the national cybercrime helpline 1930 before approaching policeAn FIR was registered on May 15 and the Parksite Police in Vikhroli have launched an investigation into the case