Thiruvalla: An attempt to defraud a 70-year-old woman of ₹20 lakh by trapping her in a ‘digital arrest’ scam was thwarted by officials of Bank of Baroda’s Thiruvalla branch.

The staff became suspicious when the woman, a resident of Manjadi, came to prematurely withdraw three of her fixed deposits at once. Though bank officer Vinod Chandran explained that she would lose the interest and other benefits, she insisted, saying her children had instructed her to withdraw the money and transfer it to their accounts.

After completing the withdrawal, ₹21.5 lakh was credited to her savings account. But when officials checked the account details given for RTGS transfer, they realised something was wrong — the beneficiary was listed as Amethus Commodities Private Limited.

Sensing fraud, the staff questioned her further and made her aware of online scams. The woman then revealed the truth — she had received WhatsApp calls from people claiming to be from the Mumbai Crime Department, who told her that her Aadhaar details were being misused for fraud. The first call came on November 2, followed by repeated calls. They told her she was ‘under arrest’ and ordered her to transfer ₹20 lakh from her account immediately. Frightened, she did not tell even her children.

On Tuesday, she came to the Thiruvalla branch to make the transfer. Even as she was at the bank, the fraudsters continued calling her on phone. The bank staff quickly contacted her son, who lives abroad, and informed him of the situation. Chief Manager Delna Dixon said the transaction was frozen as soon as the fraud was confirmed.

The woman, a former expatriate, currently resides in Manjadi.