Mangaluru: Senior citizen duped of Rs 31 lakh in digital arrest cyber scam

Mangaluru: Senior citizen duped of Rs 31 lakh in digital arrest cyber scam

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Jul 24, 2026: A 64-year-old man from Mangaluru lost ₹31 lakh to cyber fraudsters who allegedly posed as government officials and threatened him with a fake "digital arrest". A case has been registered at the CEN Police Station.

According to the complaint, the fraud began on July 15 when the victim received a call from an unknown person claiming to be R.K. Choudhary, an officer of the Data Protection Board of India.

The caller falsely claimed that a SIM card had been issued in the victim’s name and was being used to send obscene messages and videos to children. He further alleged that around 20 complaints had been filed against the victim and connected him to another person posing as an officer of the Mumbai Cyber Cell, who claimed that an FIR and multiple criminal cases had been registered against him.

Later the same day, the victim received a video call from another fraudster identifying himself as Sanjay, who repeated the allegations. On July 16, another video call was made during which the fraudsters collected details of the victim’s assets and bank accounts.

On July 17, the victim was told that an arrest warrant had been issued against him and was instructed to transfer ₹3.80 lakh for "verification" of his funds. Fearing legal action, he transferred the amount through RTGS.

The following day, the fraudsters sent a WhatsApp message asking him to pledge the gold jewellery kept at home and transfer additional money. Acting on their instructions, the victim pledged his jewellery with a finance company, obtained a loan of ₹29 lakh, and transferred ₹27.20 lakh through RTGS to the bank account provided by the accused.

The victim later realised he had fallen prey to a cyber scam and approached the police. In his complaint, he alleged that the fraudsters impersonated government officials, threatened him with fabricated criminal cases and a fake "digital arrest", and cheated him of a total of ₹31 lakh.

The CEN Police have registered a case and launched an investigation to identify and apprehend the accused.