Retired govt employee loses Rs 1.2 cr in 'virtual arrest' cyber scam, police start probe

Kochi | An investigation has been launched after a retired central government employee from Vengola in Ernakulam district lost Rs 1.2 crore in a ‘virtual arrest’ cyber fraud.

The ‘virtual arrest’ scam involves cyber criminals impersonating police officers, contacting victims online, and claiming that the victim is booked for a crime.

They then threaten immediate arrest online unless the victim cooperates with their demands.

According to police, the latest case was reported at the Ernakulam Rural Cyber police station on August 22.

The 74-year-old victim received a WhatsApp call on August 15 from a man who introduced himself as Praveen, an officer with the Greater Mumbai Police, it said.

Later, in a WhatsApp video call, the fraudster claimed that a smuggling attempt had been foiled by them and that a consignment carrying banned goods had been registered in the victim’s name using his ID.

The impostor then threatened to place the victim under ‘virtual arrest’ unless he could prove his innocence, police said.

“The victim was told that his bank accounts needed to be verified as part of the investigation and that his money would be returned once the verification was complete. Following the instructions, he transferred Rs 40 lakh each in three transactions to two bank accounts in Mumbai on August 18,” a police officer said.

However, when the amount was not returned as promised, he approached the police who registered a case and managed to freeze around Rs 35 lakh from the bank accounts to which the amount was transferred, the officer said.

However, the rest of the money had already been withdrawn.

The accounts were in the names of bogus companies, and efforts continue to recover the remaining amount and identify the perpetrators of the fraud, the officer added.

Cyber fraud has become a serious concern in Kerala. As per the Kerala police records, cyber fraudsters siphoned off Rs 763 crore from the state in 2024. Police have appealed to the public to report such cyber fraud incidents immediately via the cyber crime helpline (1930) and are running awareness campaigns to prevent such scams.