IT worker held under ‘digital arrest’ in Telangana: Know how things have developed

A 44-year-old IT worker who was placed under ‘digital arrest’ by scammers has managed to escape without losing any money with the help of police. The employee was under ‘digital arrest’ for nearly 30 hours in a fake money laundering case, PTI reported.

The event took place in the early hours of October 26 and lasted until October 27. The fraudsters posed as Mumbai Police and made video and voice calls to him through an instant messaging app. The fraudsters had instructed the victim not to disconnect, the report said, citing police officials.

They threatened to arrest him in a money laundering case and asked for this ₹40 lakh to withdraw it.

The victim informed the Hyderabad Cyber ​​Crime Police Station only after the fraudsters’ call was dropped on October 27 morning. The police informed him of the fraud.

On October 25, the victim received text messages stating that his mobile number and Aadhaar number were linked to a money laundering case filed in Mumbai. However, he did not pay attention to such messages.

At 3 am on October 26, the fraudsters masqueraded while Mumbai Police was making voice and video calls to him. They instructed him to stay on the line until they asked him to disconnect as part of the verification. Furthermore, they instructed him not to tell anyone else, including his family, about this incident. Afterwards, he went to a room in his home, the report said.

The fraudsters also sent fake documents like an FIR, an arrest warrant and a court petition, which he feared. They also promised to clear his name from the case after he paid the requested money.

When asked about his bank accounts, he revealed that he has a total of ₹25 lakh in the FDs and savings accounts. When the fraudsters received the bank account information, they threatened to move to a hotel, claiming police would come and pick him up from his home, it added.

After this, the victim drove to a distance of 15 km to Ameerpet area and checked into a room. The fraudsters did not allow him to end the call while driving, the report said. They asked him to make an RTGS payment to be released.

The fraud call was dropped at 4am on October 27 and the victim contacted cybercrime police. The police asked him to block the fraud number and spoke to him for an hour so that the victim did not take extreme steps.

However, no complaint was filed by the victim as he did not lose any money, the report said.

India’s cybersecurity agency CERT shared a list of more than a dozen ways online scams are carried out by fraudsters in the country, including ‘digital capture’.

The Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In) termed “digital capture” an online scam. In a “digital arrest,” victims receive a phone call, email, or message claiming they are under investigation for illegal activity.