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Posing as CBI officers, the fraudsters imposed “digital arrest” by keeping him under constant Skype surveillance. They used threats of arrest to force him to share all financial details and make 187 bank transfers.
In her complaint, the software engineer from Indiranagar in the city said the ordeal continued for more than six months until she got a ‘clearance letter’ from the fraudsters.
It started with a call on September 15, 2024, from a person claiming to be from DHL Andheri, alleging that the parcel booked in his name contained credit cards, passports and MDMA, and said that his identity had been misused.
Before the woman could respond, the call was transferred to people claiming to be CBI officers, who threatened her and claimed that “all the evidence is against you”.
The fraudsters warned her not to contact the police, saying criminals were keeping an eye on her house. She remained silent out of fear for her family and her son’s upcoming marriage.
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The woman was instructed to install two Skype IDs and stay on video. A person calling himself Mohit Handa kept an eye on him for two days, after which Rahul Yadav kept an eye on him for a week.
Another impersonator, Pradeep Singh, introduced himself as a senior CBI officer and put pressure on him to prove his innocence.
The complainant further said that it appears that the group has come to know her phone activity and location, which has increased her fear. They asked him to verify all his assets with the financial intelligence unit of the RBI and produced forged letters to make it look official.
From September 24 to October 22, Umarani shared details of his finances and transferred large sums of money.
Between 24 October and 3 November, he deposited an alleged security deposit of Rs 2 crore, followed by further payments for “taxes”.
He was promised a clearance letter before his son’s engagement on 6 December, but he received a fake letter.
This pressure made the woman mentally and physically unhealthy.
Eventually, the victim received a clearance letter on December 1, allowing the engagement to proceed. But she then fell seriously ill, requiring a month of medical treatment to recover.
“All this time I had to report on Skype where I was and what I was doing. This person named Pradeep Singh was in touch daily. I was told that the money would be returned by February 25 after all the processes were completed,” she said.
After December, scammers demanded processing fees, repeatedly delaying refunds to February and then March. All communications ceased on March 26, 2025.
The complainant waited until after his son’s marriage in June to come forward and lodge a complaint.
“Overall, through 187 transactions, I have been deprived of a total amount of approximately Rs 31.83 crore which was deposited by me,” he said.
The woman has demanded the authorities to investigate the entire incident.