Chandigarh resident loses ₹3.41 crore to digital arrest scam via video call fraud

Summary

A resident of Sector 2-A, Chandigarh, was defrauded of Rs 3.41 crore in a digital arrest scam. On March 18, the victim received a call from an international number, during which fraudsters claimed a virtual bank account had been opened in his name and showed a forged ATM card via video call. The next day, the caller alleged the victim was linked to a Rs 2-crore money laundering case involving jailed businessman Naresh Goyal and threatened him with a digital arrest. The fraudsters displayed a fake Supreme Court arrest warrant and kept the victim on a continuous video call, coercing him to transfer Rs 3.41 crore into various bank accounts. Three additional suspects — Avtar Singh (21), Amritpal Singh (25), and Sunil Kumar (24) — were arrested by the UT police, bringing the total arrests in the case to five. The police are still tracing remaining suspects and attempting to recover the victim’s money.