A 76-year-old man from Udupi has lost Rs 9.29 lakh after falling prey to a ‘digital arrest’ cyber fraud in which scammers impersonated Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials and threatened him with arrest in a fake money laundering case.

According to the complaint filed by Vasudev Prabhu, he received a WhatsApp call on July 2 from an unidentified person who claimed that a bank account had been opened in his name and that it was linked to a Rs 2 crore money laundering case. The caller further alleged that the Enforcement Directorate had registered a case against him.

The fraudster reportedly threatened Prabhu with immediate arrest by 4.30 pm the same day, claiming he would be taken to Mumbai and kept in police custody for 45 days. Terrified by the threats, the elderly man transferred a total of Rs 9.29 lakh to a bank account specified by the accused.

After realising he had been deceived, Prabhu approached the police and lodged a complaint.

The Udupi Town Police have registered a case under Sections 111(4), 319(2), 308(2), and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, and have launched an investigation.