Digital HarmsTrackerBeta
All incidents

Retired academic held captive on WhatsApp video for 12 days and defrauded of ₹1.4 crore in digital arrest scam

Aug 1, 2025Nainital, India1 source

Summary

A retired vice-chancellor of a UP varsity was virtually held for 12 days and defrauded of ₹1.4 crore in a "digital arrest" scam. The 72-year-old woman from Nainital was targeted via a WhatsApp video call by individuals posing as Maharashtra police officers. They falsely accused her of money laundering and demanded she transfer funds for "verification." She was forced to transfer ₹1.4 crore in multiple transactions while being monitored on video for 15–16 hours daily. One of the accused, Rajendra Kumar from Yamunanagar, Haryana, was arrested in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, after police traced digital evidence and obtained support from Meta. Kumar admitted to working with fraudsters in Cambodia, receiving OTPs for transactions in exchange for a commission.

Incident Details

Domain
Fraud & Financial
Mechanism
conduct
Platforms
WhatsApp
Recipient
IndividualA retired vice-chancellor of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University in Bareilly
Dimensions
economicpsychologicalautonomy

Sources

1
Retired UP varsity VC virtually held for 12 days, duped of ₹1.4cr in ‘digital arrest’ - The Times of India
Google News Historical Backfill·Sep 1, 2025

This incident is documented by a single source. Source count reflects coverage in our monitored feeds, not the totality of reporting, and we do not evaluate publication quality.