Mumbai, India

Amid the rising ‘digital arrest’ scam cases, a 26-year-old woman from Maharashtra's Mumbai was duped of Rs 170,000 ($2,000) after scammers claimed her name came up in a money laundering investigation.

Advertisment

The fraudsters also forced her to strip during a video call, according to the FIR or First Information Report from police.

According to the police complaint filed by the woman, she received a phone call on November 19. The cybercriminals posed as Delhi Police officials and told her that her name had come up in a money laundering case linked to businessman Naresh Goyal. 

The victim, who resides in Borivali East, was threatened by the scammers of being arrested. She was then asked to shift to video call and book a hotel room for the questioning while being under ‘digital arrest’.

Advertisment

Also read | India: IIT Bombay student loses $8,000 to fraudsters in ‘digital arrest’ scam

During the video call, she was asked to strip her clothes for ‘body verification’ and transfer Rs 178,000 ($2,105) for the verification of her bank details. The woman obliged the scammers and transferred the amount, as per the FIR.

After realising she had been tricked, the victim approached the police on November 28. A case has been registered by the Mumbai Police under BNS and IT Act and an investigation is taking place.

Advertisment

'Digital arrest' scam

In a digital arrest scam, people receive a call, usually via WhatsApp, and are told their name came up in a government agency investigation.

The victims are then isolated and threatened not to tell anyone about it. Then they are forced to transfer large sums of money to verify their details and given assurance that their money will be returned once their name is cleared in the investigation.

Also read | Delhi pollution: Even the best air Delhiites breathed in November was of 'very poor' category

In another incident, a student of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay was duped Rs 729,000 ($8,633) by fraudsters who issued a fake ‘digital arrest’ notice and demanded he pay the money.

The cybercriminals posed as officials from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Amid the rise of such digital arrest scams, earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned citizens to beware of such phone or video calls as no investigation agency conducts interrogations in such a manner.

“Stop, think and act,” he said.

(With inputs from agencies)