Month-long torture, Rs 85 lakh transfers: How ‘Innocence Certificate’ led to a ‘digital arrest’ of an elderly Chandigarh couple
From the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to vigilance and financial intelligence departments, and the police and RBI, the Chandigarh couple was put under near-constant psychological pressure.
Chandigarh Cyber Police arrested two youths from Uttar Pradesh for sending fake traffic challan SMSes with malicious links to cheat city residents. (file) An elderly Chandigarh couple was cheated of Rs 85 lakh after callers convinced them they were suspects in a money-laundering case — and that only these “officials” could help them secure a “Priority Innocence Verification Certificate” to prevent their arrest.
The First Information Report, filed at the Cyber Police Station in Chandigarh’s Sector 17 on December 9, reveals a meticulously staged month-long deception that mimicked the tone, structure, and intimidation style of an actual government probe.
A Venkatesh, DSP Cyber Crime Cell, Chandigarh Police, said, “This incident shows how digital-arrest scams have become far more sophisticated. The criminals no longer rely on one phone call — they now build an entire parallel investigation, complete with forged documents, multiple impersonators and continuous psychological pressure”.
“In this case, the scammers even convinced the victims that a PCR unit was stationed outside their home. Elderly citizens, especially, are at risk because they tend to trust official-sounding communication. We urge the public to remember that no agency issues an ‘innocence certificate’ and no genuine investigation requires secrecy or money transfers,” said Venkatesh.
How the ‘Innocence Certificate’ became the scam’s centre
In early October, the 75-year-old couple received a call from a man who identified himself as an official from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). He claimed that their Aadhaar details had been misused to open a bank account involved in money laundering. The call was quickly transferred to two others posing as senior vigilance and financial intelligence officers, who spoke in authoritative bureaucratic language.
Within minutes, the callers introduced what they described as the only escape: a mandatory “Innocence Verification Certificate”, which they said was issued after a Reserve Bank of India (RBI)-supervised financial integrity check. They stressed that only they could secure it “on priority” and prevent the couple’s arrest. To reinforce legitimacy, the victims received forged RBI notices, court memos and verification slips on WhatsApp.
When the couple, alarmed by the secrecy and urgency, cautiously asked if this could be a “digital arrest scam” — a term now widely known — the scammers escalated their intimidation. They insisted they were “real police officers” and claimed that a PCR vehicle was stationed near the couple’s residence, ready to act if they failed to comply. The threat was enough to quell doubts, and push the victims deeper into obedience.
A month-long cycle of pressure, secrecy and financial drain
Over the next several weeks, the couple remained under near-constant psychological pressure. They were told to stay on call for hours, remain isolated, and follow every instruction without speaking to relatives or bank officials. The scammers claimed RBI needed to “verify” their funds and, under this pretext, directed them to transfer their savings into multiple accounts described as government-linked verification wallets.
Between mid-October and mid-November, the couple made several large transfers — ultimately totalling around Rs 85 lakh — believing the funds would be returned once their “innocence” was certified. Whenever hesitation surfaced, the scammers responded with new fabricated documents, and repeated warnings that the PCR team outside could detain them at any moment if they broke protocol. The illusion of surveillance, combined with bureaucratic pressure, kept the victims trapped.
The fraud collapsed only when the callers abruptly stopped responding. The couple then approached the Cyber Police Station, where an FIR was registered and an investigation into the accounts and phone numbers used in the operation began.
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