A 65-year-old man has fallen prey to scammers and lost Rs61.19 lakh in digital arrest fraud.

The scammers contacted the victim posing as officials from the Ministry of Communications and Mumbai Police and told him that a SIM card issued in his name had been used to circulate pornographic material.

They said a bank account had been opened in the victim’s name and was used to launder Rs2 crore. The scammers induced the victim to transfer the money, which had got after selling his flat.

According to the police, the victim is a resident of Ratnagiri. On December 20, he received a phone call from a person who claimed to be from Ministry of Communications. The caller told the victim that a SIM had been issued in his name and that his Aadhaar card was being misused. The victim denied having any such knowledge after which the caller said that he is transferring the call to Mumbai Police, which is probing the matter.

Later a person claiming to be a sub-inspector from Andheri Police Station spoke to the victim. The scammer also shared a bogus complaint copy with the victim stating that the SIM card was used to circulate pornographic material. The scammer told the victim that a bank account was opened in his name and the same was used to launder Rs2 crore. They then told the victim that his banking transactions will be audited by a government auditor and induced the victim to share details of his finances.

The victim fell into this trap and informed the scammer that he had sold his flat and is expecting Rs58 lakh in his bank account by December 26. The victim transferred Rs61.19 lakh into the bank accounts provided by the scammers, but when the scammers asked for more money, the victim got suspicious. He then approached the police and got an offence registered in the matter.

A case has been registered by Thane police under sections 318 (cheating), 319 (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and sections 66C (identity theft), 66D (cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act.