Digital Arrest Epidemic: Sinthee Resident Loses ₹61.8 Lakh in 4-Day Phishing Ordeal

KOLKATA: In one of the most sophisticated cybercrimes reported in Kolkata this year, a 61-year-old resident of Sinthee was swindled of ₹61.8 lakh in what is known as a “Digital Arrest” scam. The ordeal began on April 1 when the victim received a call from an individual claiming to be an officer from the Colaba Police Station in Mumbai. The fraudster alleged that the victim’s Aadhaar number was linked to a terror-funding account at a nationalized bank.

Over the next four days, the victim was subjected to “virtual interrogation” via WhatsApp video calls. The scammers, dressed in police uniforms and operating from a backdrop that mimicked a government office, shared forged documents bearing official insignia. Under extreme psychological pressure, the victim was coerced into liquidating his entire stock market portfolio and transferring the proceeds to “RBI-linked verification accounts.”

Kolkata Police’s Cyber Cell has registered an FIR and is currently tracing the money trail, which appears to lead to a network of “mule accounts” in North India. “This was not a simple phishing call; it was a highly organized social engineering attack that exploited the victim’s fear of state authority,” said a senior investigating officer. The police have issued a city-wide advisory, reminding citizens that no law enforcement agency—including the CBI, NIA, or local police—conducts interrogations or “arrests” over video calls.