Coimbatore Retired Woman Doctor Loses ₹98 Lakh in ‘Digital Arrest’ Cyber Fraud

Coimbatore: A 67-year-old retired government woman doctor from Coimbatore allegedly lost ₹98 lakh after cyber fraudsters posing as senior CBI officials kept her under a prolonged "digital arrest" through WhatsApp video calls and threatened her with legal action over alleged illegal transactions linked to her bank accounts.
According to reports, the fraudsters reportedly contacted the woman doctor through a WhatsApp video call and introduced themselves as senior officials from the CBI in Delhi. They allegedly told her that her bank accounts had been used for illegal and fraudulent money transactions and claimed that she was being placed under "digital arrest" in connection with the case.
The accused then allegedly kept her under constant surveillance through video calls for several days. She was threatened and made to believe that she could not leave her house or contact her relatives while the purported investigation was underway.
The fraudsters subsequently told her that the money in her bank accounts had to be verified to establish whether it was legally held. They allegedly instructed her to transfer the funds to several bank accounts that they described as secure accounts for verification, assuring her that the entire amount would be returned once the process was completed.
Believing the claims to be genuine, the retired doctor transferred a total of ₹98 lakh in multiple transactions to different bank accounts provided by the fraudsters.
However, soon after receiving the money, the accused allegedly cut off all communication and became unreachable. Realising that she had been cheated, the woman approached the Coimbatore City Cyber Crime Police and lodged a complaint.
Based on her complaint, the cyber crime police registered a case and have launched an investigation. Investigators are examining the bank accounts into which the money was transferred as well as the WhatsApp numbers used by the fraudsters in an effort to trace those involved in the scam.
Cyber crime police have reiterated that no police department, CBI officer or government agency conducts investigations or makes arrests through WhatsApp video calls. Officials also do not ask individuals to transfer money to another bank account for verification.
Police have advised people who receive such threatening calls to immediately report the incident by calling the 1930 cyber crime helpline or filing a complaint through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.