Hyderabad, May 9 -- A retired teacher from Mahabubabad, Telangana, lost Rs 82 lakh in a digital arrest scam, with fraudsters posing as police officers, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) personnel and telecom officials threatening the man and his wife with fake arrest warrants and criminal cases.

The teacher's wife first received a call on April 11 from an individual claiming to be a telecom employee from Airtel. The caller warned the teacher that his mobile phone would be blocked since it had 17 harassment cases directly linked to his Aadhaar card. The couple was redirected to talk to a different fraudster via a WhatsApp video call. The person, dressed in a police uniform, introduced himself as a sub-inspector from Bengaluru.

He mis...