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

An Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay student was defrauded of Rs 7.29 lakh ($8,633) by fraudsters who issued a fake “digital arrest” notice and demanded payment from him. On Tuesday, November 26, cybercriminals posed as officials of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

“The 25-year-old victim received a call from an unknown number in July this year. The caller identified himself as a TRAI employee and informed him that 17 complaints of illegal activities had been registered on his mobile number,’ said an officer of Mumbai’s Powai police station, news agency PTI reported.

The fraudster told the victim that he had to obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the police to prevent the number from being deactivated and the call from being diverted to the cyber crime department.

The student then received a video call via WhatsApp and a man dressed as a police officer demanded his Aadhar card number. According to police, the fraudster told him he was involved in money laundering and tricked him into sending 29,500 rupees ($3,493) through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

The defendant told the victim that he was digitally arrested and was not allowed to contact anyone. The next day, the scammers called him again, demanding more money. They also forced the man to provide his bank account details, after which the fraudsters extorted Rs 7 lakh ($8,000) from his bank account. After making the payment, the victim was told he would not face any arrest, police said.

Later, when the student came to know about the digital arrest, he realized that he was cheated by fraudsters, which prompted him to file a police complaint against the fraudsters.

In August, a woman from Noida, Uttar Pradesh, was defrauded of 34 lakh rupees ($40,000) by cybercriminals in a similar “digital arrest” who claimed that a parcel sent from Mumbai to Iran on her behalf had been intercepted by officials.

Amid the rise in digital arrest scams earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned citizens to beware of such phone or video calls as no investigative agency conducts interrogations in this manner. “Stop, think and act,” he said.

(With the participation of the agency)