A 76-year-old former school headmaster in Nagpur allegedly lost around Rs65 lakh to cyber fraudsters who posed as police officers and threatened him with arrest over a fabricated terror-financing case, police said. The incident has prompted a cybercrime investigation into the bank accounts and phone numbers used to receive the money.
The victim, who lives in Hiwari Nagar, approached the police after realizing that he had been deceived in what is commonly described as a “digital arrest” scam. According to his complaint, the fraudsters told him that a bank account had been opened in his name and used to carry out transactions worth Rs2 crore.
The callers allegedly linked the supposed transactions to terrorist activities and warned the elderly man that he could be arrested immediately. By presenting themselves as police officials and threatening legal action, they allegedly kept him under their control and persuaded him to follow their instructions to avoid arrest.
Police said the accused subsequently forced the complainant to transfer money from his bank account to different accounts on several occasions. He was also attempting to liquidate a fixed deposit to make further payments when his daughter learned about the situation and stopped the transaction.
The cybercrime unit registered a case after the complainant approached police on September 30. The case includes provisions relating to cheating, identity-related fraud, forgery, use of forged documents and common intention, as well as relevant sections of the Information Technology Act concerning identity theft and cheating.
Investigators are tracing the financial trail and examining the bank accounts into which the money was transferred. Police are also investigating the phone numbers used by the alleged fraudsters and the software involved in the operation.
The case illustrates how digital fraud networks combine impersonation, fabricated criminal allegations and sustained remote pressure to manipulate victims into transferring funds. In this instance, the alleged fraud continued until a family member intervened while the victim was attempting to access additional savings.
The investigation remains focused on identifying the people behind the calls, determining how the recipient accounts were used and recovering the transferred funds. Police said they were examining the financial transactions and digital tools connected with the case.
