Bengaluru woman loses ₹24 crore to scammers during 5-month-long digital arrest: Here's how it unfolded

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) busted what is being dubbed as Karnataka’s biggest “digital arrest” cyber fraud case. The cybercrime sleuths of the CCB reportedly arrested five accused in a massive online scam.

According to The Hindu, they were accused of cheating an elderly Bengaluru woman of nearly ₹24 crore by posing as officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The victim, Lakshmi Ramamurthy, is a resident of Shivajinagar.

She earlier worked as a teacher in Dubai before retiring, the report added. The report quoted police as saying that she had sold several properties in Bengaluru and Mumbai and was planning to relocate to the United States (US) to live with her children.

She was targeted after scammers learned she had recently received substantial funds from property transactions, India Today reported.

The accused allegedly told the woman that her bank accounts were linked to a money laundering case and warned her not to disclose the matter to anyone, claiming she was under “digital arrest.”

They posed as law enforcement officials investigating a "money laundering case" and subjected her to intense psychological pressure between January and May, eventually extracting ₹24 crore.

According to India Today, the racket was uncovered when Ramamurthy visited the ICICI Bank Cantonment Branch to mortgage 1.3 kg of gold jewellery to raise more cash. Suspecting foul play, the bank manager immediately alerted the police, preventing further loss.

Following this, the CCB Cyber Police intervened and questioned the woman. They later informed her children who reside abroad.

So far, five suspects from Mumbai, Allahabad, and Delhi, have been arrested.

Police froze bank accounts containing ₹60 lakh and traced the stolen money across 22 different accounts as further investigation continues.