Pune: An alert bank manager and intervention by Chinchwad police helped a retired lawyer mitigate a digital arrest scam after cybercrooks allegedly duped him of Rs21 lakh.The retired lawyer’s daughter lodged a complaint with Chinchwad police on Wednesday. A police team led by sub-inspector Vishal Pawar counselled the 87-year-old man, who had already transferred Rs 21 lakh, preventing him from transferring his remaining savings.An officer from Chinchwad police said, “On Sept 5, the senior citizen received a call from an unknown number, who claimed to be a police officer. The caller accused him of transferring funds to a terrorist organisation through his bank account and laundering money. The caller threatened to arrest him in the case. He was told he was being placed under digital arrest and needed to cooperate with the ‘investigation’.”“The caller asked the senior citizen for his bank balance, fixed deposit receipts and other savings, and told him to transfer money to two bank accounts for verification. He was also threatened to not speak of this to anyone. He transferred Rs 21 lakh through two RTGS transactions from his bank account,” the officer said.“Noticing the senior citizen’s unusually large transactions, his bank manager inquired about it. The senior citizen gave him vague replies and refused to share more details. The manager became suspicious and immediately alerted us. PSI Pawar and a team were sent to the senior citizen’s residence. PSI Pawar counselled him, saying he could be being targeted by cybercrooks as part of a digital arrest scam. The team advised him not to make any further transfers,” the officer said.Police managed to save the remaining Rs14 lakh in his bank account before he could transfer it. “Investigations so far revealed the money was transferred to two bank accounts, one in Vile Parle, Mumbai, and another in Sindgi, Karnataka,” the officer added.
