By: Express News ServicePune | November 18, 2025 09:21 PM IST 4 min readSeparate FIRs were registered in these cases on Monday at Cyber Crime police station of Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad. (Credit: Unsplash)A retired engineering professor from Pune and an elderly couple from Pimpri Chinchwad became the latest victims of the ‘digital arrest’ frauds in which they were coerced to transfer Rs 3 crore and Rs 2 crore of their life savings respectively as cyber criminals posing as police and central agency officers threatened to arrest them for alleged links to terror activities.Separate FIRs were registered in these cases on Monday at Cyber Crime police station of Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad.In the case registered at Pune Cyber Police station, a 64-year-old retired professor of engineering lost Rs 3.08 crore of her life savings between October 25 and November 12. She initially received a call from a man posing as a ‘Cyber data protection’ officer from Colaba police station. This fraudster told her that her name and identity documents have been flagged in a terror funding case. She was told that she would face legal consequences if she discussed ‘the case’ with anyone. She was asked to ‘appear before an officer’ on a video call as part of her fictitious digital arrest proceedings.Fraudsters misusing names of a serving inspector and a serving IPS officer from Maharashtra police took all the details of savings, bank balance, fixed deposits, investments of the victim. They showed her photos of arrested terrorists and was asked if she knew any of them. She kept denying any involvement in any such activity. She was told that she would have to transfer all her savings, deposits and investments to ‘government accounts for verification’ if she wanted her name to be cleared from all the charges. In six large transfers to fraudulent mule accounts, the victim transferred Rs 3.08 crore over a period of a week. As the fraudster continued demanding more and more money, she realised that she had been cheated and approached the cyber crime police station.In the second case registered at Pimpri Chinchwad Cyber Crime police station, a 74-year-old retired manager from a power electronics company and his retired school teacher wife lost Rs 2.14 crore between October 29 and November 13 in a ‘digital arrest’ scam. The cyber criminals told them that wife’s name had been flagged in a case against Popular Front of India (PFI) which has faced investigation by the National Investigation Agency and other investigation bodies in the country.Initially posing as officers from Nashik police headquarters, the couple was told that the wife could be arrested for PFI links. These fraudsters then manipulated the couple into sharing the details of LIC policies, fixed deposits, recurring and postal deposits, bank savings etc. The couple were asked to transfer all their savings to ‘government accounts’ and were told that the money would be refunded to them as per RBI guidelines. Under pressure due to fear of arrest, the couple complied with all the fake narratives created by fraudsters and ended up transferring Rs 2.14 crore in eight large transfers. After realising that they had been cheated, they approached the police and an FIR was registered on Monday.Officials warn that despite broad awareness drives, cases of ‘digital arrest,’ online extortion, and blackmail persist. Cybercriminals posing as police, CBI, narcotics officials, RBI or ED officers, and even judges continue to target citizens. The issue, highlighted even by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Mann Ki Baat address, involves sophisticated cross-border networks. As reported earlier, these syndicates use layers of mule accounts inside India, channelling victims’ money through them before moving it to global cybercrime operations, often via cryptocurrency.Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd