Thane man loses ₹3.04 crore in digital arrest scam via WhatsApp fraud and cryptocurrency transfer

Summary

A man in Thane was duped of Rs 3.04 crore in a "digital arrest" scam. The fraudsters impersonated government officials and a courier company, falsely claiming a parcel containing illegal items was seized in his name. They then threatened the victim with a fake "digital arrest" during a WhatsApp video call, pressuring him to transfer funds for "verification." The scammers converted Rs 82.46 lakh of the stolen money into Tether (USDT), a stable cryptocurrency, and transferred it overseas. The accused—Kishore Bansilal Jain, Mahesh Pavan Kothari, and Dhaval Santosh Bhalerao—were arrested on June 19. The fraud gang is believed to be part of an international network using advanced technology to execute the scam.