MANGALURU: In a swift action, the Mulki police and a bank manager thwarted a major online 'digital arrest' scam, rescuing an elderly couple from being duped of lakhs of rupees.
The victims were targeted by fraudsters impersonating as CID police from Uttar Pradesh, but thanks to the prompt intervention of the police and the bank manager, the scam was exposed before the victim could incur any significant financial loss.
Mulki inspector Manjunath told The New Indian Express that the elderly couple, Benedict Fernandes, aged 84 and Lilly Cecilia Fernandes, aged 71, who were earlier working in the Gulf, received a call on WhatsApp from the cons two days ago, claiming that there was an illegal money transaction of Rs 6 crores from their bank accounts and they were booked for fraud. The fraudsters made the victims believe that they had been booked for money laundering and threatened severe consequences unless they paid a hefty fine.
They threatened to provide personal details, bank accounts and said that they would be arrested if they failed to transfer the money and subjected them to 'digital arrest'. The elderly woman went to the bank at Kinnigoli and gave the account credentials given by the cons to the bank officials and asked them to transfer Rs 84 lakhs from their fixed deposits.
Bank manager Royston grew suspicious when the elderly couple failed to answer why they were transferring such a hefty amount. He checked the bank details given by the couple and during verification, he found out that it belonged to a pharmacy company in Uttar Pradesh. The bank manager sent the couple home, but did not transfer the money. Instead, he informed the Mulki police personnel, Yashwanth Kumar and Kishore. The police went to the elderly couple's house, and by the time they reached home, the couple received a video call from the cons threatening to transfer the money.
"We tried to get the screenshot when the fraudsters made the video call, however they realised that we were cops and quickly disconnected the call. We are further investigating the case," said the inspector.