A 67-year-old homemaker from Malad was allegedly cheated of Rs 12 lakh in a sophisticated “digital arrest” scam, in which fraudsters posing as police and central agency officers kept her under constant virtual watch for six days.

The trap

Cyber police said the woman received a WhatsApp video call from a man claiming to be a Mumbai Police officer. Using a profile photo with a police logo, he alleged that a bank account opened in her name in Lucknow had been used to route '17 crore for terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir. She was told she had earned a 10 per cent commission and could face arrest and up to 10 years in jail.