IIT Bombay Student Defrauded Of ₹7 Lakh In 'Digital Arrest' Scam

An IIT Bombay student was held on digital arrest and defrauded for Rs. 7.29 lakh after the scammer impersonated as a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and forced him to pay the money by threatening and intimidating him, police said on Tuesday. There have been a few cases of digital arrest where a senior citizen was scammed for Rs. 32 lakh and a designer was scammed for Rs. 2 lakhs. The digital arrest is a common thread in all the 3 cases where the scammer posed as either a government officer or posed as a FedEx employee confirming a courier delivery and holding the person hostage over a video call.

How it happened

"The 25-year-old victim received a call from an unknown number in July this year. The caller impersonated an employee of the TRAI and informed him that 17 complaints of illegal activities were registered against his mobile number," stated an official of the Powai police station in Mumbai.

The scammer said that to prevent his number from deactivation, the victim must show a no objection certificate (NOC), which can be obtained from the police and that he will be transferred to the cyber crime branch.

"A WhatsApp video call then showed a man dressed as a police officer. He demanded the victim's Aadhaar number and alleged that he was involved in money laundering. He coerced the student into transferring ₹ 29,500 via unified payments interface (UPI)," he added.

The accused then threatened the victim, stating he had been placed under digital arrest and was forbidden from contacting anybody, he stated.

The fraudster contacted the victim the following day and demanded more money. The victim gave his bank account information, allowing scammers to steal ₹7 lakh from his account. According to the police, after collecting the money, the accused assured him that he was secure and would not be arrested.

After discovering he had been fooled while performing an internet search on digital arrest, the student went to the police and filed a complaint against the anonymous scammer, said the officials.