A 62-year-old retired LIC officer from Pune lost nearly ₹99 lakh after being tricked by cybercriminals who used a fake arrest warrant carrying the forged signature of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The scammers used this document to convince her thcyberat she was involved in a money laundering case and made her transfer her savings in what is known as a “digital arrest” scam.

According to the Pune City Cyber Police, the fraud began in the last week of October when the woman, who lives in Kothrud, got a call from a man claiming to be from a “Data Protection Agency.” He told her that her Aadhaar-linked mobile number was being used for illegal transactions. Later, she was connected to another person who introduced himself as George Mathew, a “senior police officer.”

During a video call, the fraudster accused her of being involved in money laundering and warned that her bank accounts would be frozen. To make their claim look real, the scammers sent her a fake arrest warrant with Sitharaman’s forged signature and what looked like an official government seal.

The woman was told that, because of her age, she would not be physically arrested but placed under a “digital arrest”,meaning she would be monitored online. The scammer then instructed her to transfer all her money into supposed Reserve Bank of India (RBI) accounts for “verification.” Believing this to be real, the woman transferred ₹99 lakh into several bank accounts. These accounts were later found to be controlled by a cybercrime network based in Thane.

To keep her convinced, the criminals even shared fake documents, including a receipt from the Enforcement Directorate (ED). But when the woman later tried to contact them, their phone numbers were switched off. That’s when she realized she had been cheated and filed a complaint with the Pune Cyber Police.

Police have started tracking the bank accounts and phone numbers used in the scam. Officials said cybercriminals often use the names of real government agencies like the Data Protection Board of India (DPBI) or the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to make their scams sound believable.

A senior police officer warned that such scams are becoming more common and that people must be cautious. “These frauds take advantage of people’s trust in government officials,” he said. “Citizens should always verify any such call or document directly with the authorities before sending money or sharing personal information.”