Cyber fraudsters posing as law enforcement officers defrauded a 72-year-old man from Coimbatore of ₹5.5 crore by putting him under ‘digital arrest’ - a false concept used as a cybercrime tactic to extort money from gullible victims.Police sources said that a businessman from a residential area at R.S. Puram was cheated of the money by scamsters who posed as officers of the Mumbai Police.According to the police, scamsters impersonating police officers contacted the businessman and told him that his bank accounts were involved in fraudulent transactions. They told him that he was kept under digital arrest for the investigation and asked him to transfer the money from his bank account to them for a verification process. The businessman transferred ₹5.5 crore to the scamsters in two transactions on Monday and Tuesday. The cybercriminals further forced him to transfer a fixed deposit (FD) of ₹3 crore.The police said that the septuagenarian visited his bank to withdraw the money from the FD. The staff enquired him about the reason for premature withdrawal of the FD and came to know about the digital arrest. They immediately alerted the police, who later talked to the victim and explained to him that it was a scam. The police collected a complaint from him on Wednesday for further investigation.Government portal www.cybercrime.gov.in or 1930 toll free number can be used to report cyber financial fraud and freeze fraudulent transactions. Published - September 10, 2026 06:48 pm IST