Chennai man loses ₹1.05 crore in 'digital arrest' scam amid PM's warning

Chennai: Two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned people not to fall prey to scammers who threaten people with ‘digital arrest’, a Resident of Ambattur lost Rs 1.05 crore to fraudsters using the ‘digital capture’ method.
However, the account to which the money was transferred in three installments belonged to K Sathishkumar, a resident of Velachery, who set up a fake company, opened a savings account and then sold it to cyber fraudsters.
The Avadi cybercrime police traced Sathishkumar and seized three mobile phones, seven credit cards and 8,000.
According to a complaint by Rameshkumar from Ambattur, he received a video call from a man claiming to be a CBI officer. He told Rameshkumar that his name was linked to an ongoing money laundering case in which Raj Kundra, the husband of Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty, was the main culprit.
It may be noted that Kundra was accused of making and distributing pornographic films through apps and was arrested in September 2021. He is currently out on bail.
With these details, the fake CBI officer told Rameshkumar that he was under ‘digital arrest’ and that he should transfer the cash deposit in his bank accounts to various other accounts of the ‘CBI’.
He said the money would be returned to him within two hours if “law enforcement authorities” found him innocent. Until the ‘verification’ is completed, he is not allowed to reveal his ‘digital arrest’, not even to his family members, he was warned.
Rameshkumar believed the words and transferred a total of Rs 1.05 crore in three installments.
With no communication from the other end, Ramesh Kumar realized he had been duped. He then filed a complaint with the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCCRP) and approached Avadi’s cybercrime department.
A team led by cybercrime inspector Praveen Kumar tracked the account belonging to Sathishkumar of Velachery. Investigation revealed that he had registered a fake company in his name, opened a savings account and sold it to the fraudsters.
Only on Mondays, Prime Minister Modi asked people to be vigilant against “digital arrests” and said investigating agencies never contact individuals via phone or video call for such cases.
The Prime Minister also said that investigative agencies are working with the states to tackle the issue.