Ahmedabad man loses over ₹48 lakh in ‘digital arrest’ scam targeting son in Australia

The Cyber Crime Branch of Ahmedabad Police has registered a case of cheating and criminal conspiracy after an elderly city resident complained that his son, who lives in Australia, was duped of more than ₹48 lakh by cyber fraudsters posing as senior officials of Indian law enforcement agencies and financial regulators.

The fraud took place between August 26 and September 26, when the complainant’s younger son, Pawan Patel, a resident of Sydney, received WhatsApp video calls from unknown persons falsely claiming to be officials from the Indian High Commission, Mumbai Crime Branch, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The complainant, Madankumar Patel (74), a resident of Naranpura, stated that the callers used multiple international and Indian mobile numbers and introduced themselves as “Shruti Agarwal” from the High Commission, “Field Commander Pradeep Sawant” of the Mumbai Crime Branch, “Rajesh Mishra” from the CBI and “Poonam Gupta”, claiming to be an RBI official.

Police said the accused threatened the victim with arrest in a fabricated money laundering and cryptocurrency case, claiming an arrest warrant had been issued against him. To make the threat appear genuine, the fraudsters allegedly conducted WhatsApp video calls showing individuals in police uniforms, displayed a board bearing the Mumbai Police logo, and even sent forged letters purportedly issued by the Supreme Court of India.

Under the guise of a so-called “digital arrest”, the victim was allegedly instructed to remain on continuous video surveillance, restrict movement, avoid contact with family members and cooperate with the investigation. The fraudsters then convinced him to transfer funds for “verification” to clear his name.

During this period, $25,000 (approximately ₹14.57 lakh) was withdrawn from the victim’s ANZ Bank and Commonwealth Bank accounts in Australia. In addition, a total of ₹34.28 lakh was transferred from his Axis Bank account in Naranpura, Ahmedabad, to multiple bank accounts in India, including accounts with Indian Overseas Bank and AU Bank.

Police said the accused also persuaded the victim to break fixed deposits and transfer funds to various accounts, promising that the money would be returned after verification which never happened. When further demands were made, the victim grew suspicious and lodged a complaint with the Australian Cyber Security Centre, which issued complaint number.

Following this, the victim’s father approached the Cyber Crime Helpline (1930) in India and subsequently lodged a formal complaint with the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch. The total amount involved in the fraud is estimated to be over ₹48 lakh.

The case has been registered for offences including cheating, criminal breach of trust, impersonation and criminal conspiracy. Police said an investigation is underway to trace the accused using the mobile numbers, bank accounts and digital wallets involved in the transactions, and to identify the larger network behind the cross-border cyber fraud.