Pune: A dispute between two cyber fraudsters helped police bust a “digital arrest” scam, in which an 85-year-old woman from Camp was cheated of ₹97 lakh, and prevent possible transfer of another ₹50 lakh to the crooks. The duo had successfully swindled Rs97 lakh from the woman, but a fallout over how to divide the loot prompted the disgruntled partner to pose as her Dubai-based grandson and report her “digital arrest” to the police.The victim, a resident of a posh society on East Street in the Camp area, was kept under “digital arrest” from March 27 to April 7. Posing as officials from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the fraudsters targeted the elderly woman through video calls.They falsely claimed her bank account had been used to fund terrorists involved in last year’s Pahalgam terror attack and warned that the Reserve Bank of India had flagged her for terror financing. Under the threat of arrest and public disgrace, the woman, who belongs to a business family, followed their instructions for four days, eventually transferring a total of Rs97 lakh into six bank accounts.The crime came to light on April 8 when the Pune cyber police received a call from a man claiming to be the woman’s grandson based in Dubai. He expressed concern that his grandmother was being “digitally arrested” by scammers.Senior inspector Swapnali Shinde of the Pune Cyber Police, however, grew suspicious of the caller’s motives. “The informant seemed more curious about the exact amount of money involved in the fraud than the victim’s health,” Shinde told TOI.Upon investigating, the police discovered that the cellphone number used to call them was the same the fraudsters had used to place video calls to the victim. It is believed that one of the suspects received a larger share of the money and hid it from his accomplice. In retaliation, the disgruntled partner contacted the police to expose the victim’s situation. The police have registered an FIR against the owner of the mobile number used in the scam.When personnel from the Pune cyber police and Cantonment police station reached the woman’s flat, they found her alone, shivering, and in poor health. While some of her relatives live in the same building and others abroad, none were aware that she was being held in a state of terror.“We counselled her and, after gaining her confidence, registered an FIR,” Shinde said. The timely intervention prevented even further loss. According to the FIR, the complainant still had Rs50 lakh in her savings account, which she was prepared to transfer if the police had not arrived.
