The West Zone Cyber Crime police station in Chennai city recovered Rs 20 lakh that was fraudulently extracted from a 54-year-old woman in a ‘digital arrest’ scam within 14 days of the complaint being filed.
The complainant, S Latha of Nanganallur, reported that she received a call from a person claiming to be from the Anti-Terrorist Squad of Chennai police on December 20. The man, calling from 7999822036, claimed that an FIR had been lodged against her, as her Aadhaar card details were used to open a bank account for funding terrorists.
He subjected Latha and her husband to a ‘digital arrest’, threatening them with imminent physical arrest. Over video calls, he forbade them from contacting anyone else or disconnecting their phones for three consecutive days. Under sustained psychological pressure and coercion, the couple was instructed to immediately transfer all funds from their bank account to a specified account for a purported "investigation into money laundering".
The fraudster promised to return the money after the "investigation."
Fearing legal action, Latha withdrew and transferred Rs 20 lakh via cheque to the bank account on December 23. She realised that it was a fraud only after consulting a friend. She immediately filed a complaint on the National Cybercrime Helpline 1930 and registered a complaint at the West Zone Cyber Crime police station.
A team led by the inspector traced the transferred money to an account of Onat Global Trading Pvt Ltd in Visakhapatnam, and immediately coordinated with the concerned bank to freeze the funds.
Following this, investigators obtained a court order on January 2 and sent it to the bank branch in Visakhapatnam, leading to the successful reversal of the transaction. The entire sum was credited back to the victim's account on January 7.
"The victim's money was fully recovered within 14 days due to rapid investigation and continuous monitoring," said a senior officer.
The police have registered a case and are conducting a further investigation to identify the callers and the details of the bank account used to receive the funds.