Digital Arrest Scam Drains Surat Woman’s Rs 73 Lakh

A digital arrest scam in Surat shows how cyber fraud can move beyond a single unauthorised bank transfer and become a prolonged operation involving identity documents, police impersonation, financial surveillance and forced borrowing. A 55-year-old woman from Adajan allegedly lost Rs 73 lakh after callers accused her of links to terror funding, money laundering and hawala transactions, according to her complaint and the FIR registered by Surat cybercrime police.

The reported fraud began on September 30, when the woman received a call from an unknown number. The caller, who claimed to represent the Data Protection Board of India, told her that suspicious mobile numbers had been issued using her Aadhaar details. The call was then transferred to a man identified as Avinash Patel, who allegedly claimed that 20 mobile numbers had been obtained using her documents in Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Rajasthan and Nashik in Maharashtra.