A Pune senior citizen was duped of Rs 22 lakh by a cyber scammer posing as a CBI officer.
The fraudster used the threat of a fake "digital arrest" to intimidate the victim into transferring the money.
Cybercrime authorities are currently investigating the incident to trace the culprits.
An unidentified person posed as a "CBI officer" and allegedly cheated a 71-year-old man in Pune of Rs 22 lakh after threatening him with a 'digital arrest', police said on Thursday.
The fraud took place between October 5 and 15, according to the victim's complaint filed on Wednesday.
The fraudster contacted the victim and gained his trust by claiming to be a senior police officer from Karnataka and a CBI officer, the complainant alleged.
He told the victim that his SIM card had been misused for child trafficking and asked him to transfer money as a security deposit, claiming that the amount would undergo "digital verification".
The fraudster threatened the victim with digital arrest and persuaded him to transfer Rs 22 lakh to bank accounts he provided, a police official said.
Based on the victim's complaint, the Vishrantwadi police on Wednesday registered a case against the unknown fraudster under sections 319(2) (cheating by personation) and 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act. No arrest has been made so far, the police added.
'Digital arrest' is a form of cyber fraud where fraudsters pose as law enforcement officers and threaten people through audio or video calls, forcing them to transfer money online.
Police and government authorities have repeatedly said that "digital arrest" is a cyber scam with no legal basis.
