Bengaluru woman duped of ₹24 crore in digital arrest scam:5 held from Mumbai, Delhi and Prayagraj after probe

A case of cyber fraud case has surfaced in Bengaluru, where fraudsters allegedly cheated an elderly woman of nearly ₹24 crore by threatening her with a fake “digital arrest” and a fabricated money laundering case. Police have arrested five accused from Mumbai, Prayagraj, and Delhi, while ₹60 lakh has been frozen in one bank account. According to investigators, the victim had recently sold a high-value property. The fraudsters allegedly obtained information about the transaction and contacted her in January 2026, posing as officials from an investigation agency. They claimed her bank accounts were linked to a money laundering operation. The accused allegedly terrified the woman by saying she was under “digital arrest” and warned her not to contact family members or outsiders until the inquiry was completed. Between January and May, the woman reportedly transferred around ₹24 crore into 22 different bank accounts controlled by the scammers. Fraud exposed when woman tried to mortgage gold Police said the fraud continued even after the accused received crores of rupees. When the victim ran out of cash, she approached a bank to mortgage nearly 1.30 kg of gold jewellery to arrange more money. Bank officials became suspicious after noticing unusual transactions and alerted the police, leading to the exposure of the scam. Cyber criminals using fake interviews for Aadhaar fraud Meanwhile, cyber fraudsters have also adopted a new method to manipulate Aadhaar-linked services using AI-generated deepfakes. According to the Cyber Crime Branch, scammers are targeting people through fake online job interviews and e-KYC verification calls. During video interactions, they secretly record victims’ eye iris patterns and facial movements. Using the collected data, fraudsters allegedly create AI-generated videos that appear genuine and attempt to change the mobile number linked to Aadhaar. Once the number is updated, OTPs linked to banking services, digital wallets, and DigiLocker can be redirected to the criminals. Authorities said the breach is occurring through compromised Common Service Centers (CSCs), which handle Aadhaar updates. Investigators suspect the involvement of stolen login credentials, fake agent networks, or possible internal collusion. Jaipur woman targeted through fake interview In one such case, a 28-year-old woman from Jaipur received a fake online interview link claiming to represent a private company. During the video interview, the fraudsters allegedly asked her to move her face in different directions and blink repeatedly under the pretext of “face verification”. Days later, the woman started receiving alerts related to e-KYC updates and digital wallet activation. An investigation later found that the accused had allegedly attempted to create AI-based deepfake identities using her recorded facial data. Following multiple complaints, the Cyber Crime Branch has issued an advisory warning people against sharing biometric information during unknown video calls or suspicious online interviews.