Retired government employee trapped in ‘virtual arrest’, cyber fraud of ₹ 1.2 crore, police started investigation

New Delhi. A case of ‘virtual arrest’ cyber fraud of ₹ 1.2 crore has come to light with a retired central government employee from Vengol in Ernakulam district. Investigation of this case has been started. In the ‘Virtual Arrest’ scam, cyber criminals contact the online victims by becoming a police officer and tells them that crime is registered against them.

After this, they threaten the victim that if they do not follow their demands, they will be arrested immediately. According to the police, this latest case was registered at Ernakulam Rural Cyber ​​Police Station on 22 August. On August 15, a 74 -year -old victim received a WhatsApp call. The caller called himself proficient and said that he is an officer of Greater Mumbai Police.

Then the thug threatened the victim that if he could not prove his innocence, he would be kept in ‘virtual arrest’. According to the information given by the police, the victim was told that his bank accounts need to be verified as part of the investigation and his money will be returned after the verification is completed. Following the instructions, he transferred ₹ 40 lakh each in three transactions in two bank accounts of Mumbai on 18 August.

However, when the promised money was not found back, he contacted the police, who registered a case and freeze about ₹ 35 lakh of the accounts in which the money was transferred, the officer said. However, the remaining money had already been withdrawn.

The official said that the accounts were in the name of fake companies and efforts are on to recover the remaining amount and identify the fraudsters. Cyber ​​fraud has become a serious problem in Kerala. According to Kerala Police records, in 2024 cyber criminals cheated the state for Rs 763 crore. The police have appealed to the public to immediately report such cyber fraud cases on the Cybercrime Helpline (1930) and are running an awareness campaign to stop such scams.