New Delhi: An 85-year-old woman was kept under “digital arrest” for a month by cyber scammers posing as Delhi Police officers and was defrauded of approximately Rs 1.3 crore. The fraudsters contacted her repeatedly, falsely accusing her of involvement in serious financial crimes and subjecting her to sustained psychological intimidation.The complaint was filed by her daughter, a resident of Tughlaqabad Extension in southeast Delhi. She said her mother began receiving multiple WhatsApp audio calls from several unknown numbers on or around Nov 6, 2025.
The callers posed as lawyers and police officers, both men and women, from Daryaganj police station. They repeatedly threatened the elderly woman with “digital arrest”, creating extreme fear and psychological pressure.The harassment continued uninterrupted until Dec 7. The scammers made persistent and intimidating demands for money, repeatedly stressing that payment was the only way to avoid consequences. The prolonged pressure took a severe emotional toll on the elderly woman.“Extremely distressed and fearing for her safety, my mother rushed to the bank four times and transferred money through cheques, using funds from three of her accounts,” the complainant said.The scammers also obtained sensitive personal documents, including photographs of the victim’s Aadhaar and income-tax PAN cards. “My aged mother is devastated and in shock,” the daughter stated.The defrauded amounts were transferred into multiple bank accounts — Rs 5 lakh, Rs 1.9 lakh, Rs 1.20 crore and Rs 8 lakh.An officer said the scammers followed a fixed modus operandi, falsely accusing victims of involvement in terror funding or money laundering. A case was registered under sections 318(4) (cheating), 319 (cheating by personation), 308 (extortion) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police initiated an investigation to trace the accused and the flow of funds.Last year, an 81-year-old woman was duped of Rs 1.2 crore in a similar scam. The incident was reported on April 25, when the accused posed as police officers and displayed a fake arrest order during a WhatsApp video call, subjecting the victim to intense psychological pressure.
