Ahmedabad builder duped of Rs 1 crore in digital arrest scam

A builder in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad was duped of Rs 1 crore after cybercriminals, posing as police officials, digitally arrested him and scammed him.
The victim filed a complaint with the Ahmedabad cyber crime cell, which launched an investigation. The builder alleged that the cybercriminals used his recent Rs 50 crore land deal to gain his trust.
The issue began on July 3, when the builder received a call claiming to represent Mumbai’s Andheri FedEx courier company. The caller claimed that a parcel in his name contained 550 grams of MD drugs, and that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had filed a complaint against him.
The call was then transferred to someone posing as an NCB officer, who insisted the builder provide an online statement. During a Skype video call, the builder saw a person sitting in what appeared to be a police station. The man in the video call introduced himself as a police inspector named Pradeep Sawant and demanded the builder admit to suspicious transactions linked to his bank account.
The builder was threatened with investigations by agencies including the CBI, ED, NCB and Mumbai cyber crime cell.
The builder was pressured to transfer Rs 1.05 crore online to avoid the alleged charges. The scammers claimed the money would be returned within 10 days. To gain the builder’s trust, they cited detailed information about a Rs 50 crore land deal he had recently done in Mumbai.
After transferring the money, the builder received no further communication from the scammers. Realising he had been defrauded, he approached the Ahmedabad cyber crime cell five months later to file a complaint.
Reacting to the incident, FedEx said it never requested personal information through unsolicited phone calls, mail, or email for goods being shipped or held, unless requested or initiated by customers.
“If any individual receives any suspicious phone calls or messages, they are advised not to provide their personal information. Instead, they should immediately contact the local law enforcement authorities within the vicinity or report to the cybercrime department,” the company said.