Key Points:
An elderly NRI doctor couple in south Delhi were duped of ₹14.85 crore in a two-week-long “digital arrest” scam.
Fraudsters posed as Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) officials and kept the couple under constant surveillance.
Delhi Police have registered an e-FIR and transferred the case to the Special Cell’s cyber unit, IFSO.
Amid a rise in cases of fraudsters impersonating officials to dupe victims of money, a report by Kogta Financial India Limited states that digital arrest scams have grown significantly over the years.
A similar case emerged on January 11, 2026, involving an elderly NRI couple who were defrauded in a digital arrest scam over the last two weeks, resulting in a loss of over ₹14 crore.
The Delhi Police stated that the doctor couple residing in south Delhi’s Greater Kailash-II were targeted by scammers posing as officials from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The victims, Dr Om Taneja and his wife, Dr Indira Taneja, claimed that the act orchestrated by the fraudsters was quite convincing.
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The couple had been residents of the United States of America for more than four decades before shifting to India for their retirement in 2015.
As per the complaint registered by the couple, they had been under the pressure of a digital arrest since December 24, 2025. They received a phone call from scammers who deceived them by posing as TRAI officials.
The 71-year-old NRI woman stated that she was told her phone number had been involved in suspicious activities. She was further informed that her bank account had been flagged for a money-laundering investigation. The scammers also claimed that a First Information Report (FIR) had been registered in her name in Maharashtra, India.
The couple believed the claims after another person video-called them while wearing a uniform. They realised they had been duped after confronting the police.
She told ANI, “Thankfully, we went to the police station and learned that we had been defrauded. All the drama they enacted was very convincing.” During their interactions, the couple stated that the fraudsters persuaded them to transfer money to multiple accounts.
Over the course of two weeks, the couple were kept under severe surveillance through constant video and phone calls and were placed under a “digital arrest.”
Between December 24, 2025 and January 9, 2026, the scammers allegedly coerced the couple into transferring large sums of money to eight different bank accounts. Dr Om Taneja and his wife reportedly transferred ₹14.85 crore to these accounts.
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They claimed that they were kept under constant watch and were constrained from making any movement that could have alerted anyone. The ₹14 crore scam came to light when the fraudsters instructed Indira Taneja to visit the local police station.
She complied and went to the police station while remaining on the phone with the scammer. According to her statement, the scammers even spoke to one of the police officials, which led to the unravelling of the truth. She later realised the magnitude of the scam of which they had been victims.
After highlighting the seriousness of the crime, an e-FIR was registered on January 10, 2026, and an investigation was initiated to identify and apprehend the perpetrators.
The Delhi Police have registered a case and transferred it to the Special Cell’s cyber unit, the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO). According to a report by Kogta Financial India Limited, India has reportedly lost an estimated ₹20,000 crore to cyber fraud.
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