A shocking case of cybercrime has been reported from Hyderabad. A former sessions judge who is 73 years old was scammed out of more than Rs 1.6 crore in a digital arrest. Cybercriminals pretended to be high-level police officers and threatened the victim with major criminal charges. This led to the scam.
A call from someone saying they were a top officer of the Central Bureau of Investigation was made to the retired judge on February 23. The judge lives in the Neredmet area of Hyderabad. The caller lied and said that his Aadhaar information was linked to illegal actions and that he was being looked into. The con artists used fear and pressure to make the former judge believe that he was in the middle of a big criminal case.
Thieves used fake court and police claims
Investigators say the scam was more believable when other people joined the call and pretended to be police officers. Someone said they were a police officer and said the former judge was involved in a case of human trafficking.
The con artists even told him that he had a warrant out for his arrest and that he could not get out of jail. According to them, his Aadhaar card had been hacked and tied to illegal phone numbers and illegal actions.
The crooks called and video called him several times and told him not to talk to anyone else about the story. This made it seem like it was true. The victim did what they said because they were afraid of being sued.
Strategies Used to Trap Victims in Digital Arrest
The thieves used a method called “digital arrest,” in which scammers pretend that someone is being investigated and needs to stay in touch with police through video talks. During these calls, people are warned that they will be arrested or sued.
During a video call, the scammers allegedly showed a fake paper with a Supreme Court logo to make it look like the real deal. They said that the victim’s innocence had to be proven through a cash verification method. The former judge was asked to help with the investigation and give them information about his bank accounts so that they could do a “financial assessment.”
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Over Rs. 1.6 Crore Was Moved Across Several Transactions
The scammers kept putting pressure on the retired judge, so he or she moved a total of Rs 1.66 crore to several bank accounts. The money was sent in four separate transactions over a few days.
The thieves told him that the money was only being held briefly to make sure it was real and would be sent back once the investigation was over. But the expected return never came through after the changes were made. The victim knew he had been scammed when the con artists stopped talking to him.
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The police record the case and begin their investigation
When the former judge found out about the scam, he went to the police and reported it to the Malkajgiri cybercrime police in Hyderabad.
The police have now opened a case under several parts of laws that cover cheating, imitation, fraud, and hacking. Police are trying to find the people behind the scam by following the bank accounts that the scammers used.
People have been told by the government to be careful of these kinds of digital police scams. They often pretend to be police officers, government workers, or bank employees to scare people into sending money. Officials have told people to report any calls that seem fishy right away and never send money to an unknown account, even if the speaker says they are from the government.
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