A shocking case of fraud has emerged from Rohini where a 72-year-old retired engineer was cheated off more than ₹10 crore after he was kept in what has been termed as "digital arrest" for nearly eight hours in his home. The victim, a resident of Sector 10 in Rohini along with his wife, was duped by an international gang of fraudsters, Delhi Police said.

How did the Scam happen?

He was called upon by someone saying that a parcel attached to his name originating from Taiwan had been retained in the Mumbai airport. The person further told him that the packet contained banned drugs and that he would be contacted by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch to clarify. 

In what seemed like an official inquiry, the caller convinced the victim to download Skype for a video call, where he was then informed that he was under "digital arrest" for over eight hours.

The scammers pressured him to transfer a total of ₹10.3 crore to various bank accounts, using threats and coercion to keep him in a state of fear. It wasn’t until after the money had been transferred that the victim informed his family, who approached the police immediately.

During the investigation, it was found that even though calls were supposed to have originated from abroad, local associates had also helped gather information about the victim to sound more authentic. The Police Cyber Cell in Delhi and the IFSO wing immediately launched an investigation into the case.  The police managed to freeze ₹60 lakh, which had been distributed across multiple bank accounts.

They also threatened to harm his children, a son who lives in Dubai and a daughter in Singapore. He described how that increased the pressure because, in his mind, his children were never out of his thoughts regarding their safety.

After the complaint by the victim, police formed a specialist team of cyber experts to recover the defrauded amount and apprehend the culprits. Authorities are vigorously investigating the case to unscramble the entire extent of this racket and bring the offenders to justice.

Accordingly, the victim, a private company retired engineer is now struggling to cope with the aftereffects of that scam both financially and emotionally. Now the Delhi Police are reminding the public to be careful and watchful when transacting using unsolicited calls or online transactions.