In a shocking case of cyber fraud, scammers attempted to "digitally arrest" a 28-year-old woman from Kolar, Bhopal, by falsely accusing her of money laundering. The victim, Priya Saxena, received a call from fraudsters claiming her Aadhaar number had been used to send a suspicious courier intercepted at Delhi Airport.
When Priya denied any connection to the alleged parcel, the fraudsters threatened her with jail time and staged a fake cyber police station during a video call to intimidate her. They pressured her to submit to online surveillance but failed in their attempt after she informed her father, Gopal Saxena, a retired police head constable. Upon his intervention, the scammers abruptly disconnected the call and fled.
Priya, an MBA graduate working for a private firm in MP Nagar, lives with her family at Avantika Apartment. The incident took place on Saturday afternoon when her father promptly alerted the Kolar police. The fraudsters had accused her of having fake bank accounts linked to money laundering and drug smuggling and insisted she remain under online monitoring. However, as soon as uniformed officers arrived at Priya’s home, the scammers ended the video call and disappeared.
According to police sources, the fraudsters had gone to great lengths to appear legitimate. They staged a fake police officer in uniform, displayed a "Cyber Crime Delhi Police" board, and falsely claimed Priya had an account at HDFC Bank’s Connaught Place branch. During the video call, they even showed fabricated documents to make the scam seem credible.
The fraud began with a voice call at midnight, which later escalated to a video call when Priya refused to comply. The scammers introduced a fake official who pretended to offer help but demanded her cooperation, including digital custody. However, Priya, aware of such scams from news reports, grew suspicious and alerted her father, preventing further exploitation.
The Kolar police have launched an investigation and are working to trace the IP address of the fraudulent calls. Authorities have urged citizens to remain vigilant and report any similar cyber fraud attempts immediately.
