Man loses Rs 7.78 lakh after 5 days of 'digital captivity'

Bengaluru: Impersonators claiming to conduct a CBI inquiry held a Bengaluru man in "digital captivity" for five days and conned him out of Rs 7.78 lakh. 

Police have managed to freeze Rs 6.5 lakh and traced the IP address to Cambodia. 

Thyagarajan (name changed), a resident of Geddalahalli, received a phone call from an unknown number on July 24. 

Claiming to be from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the caller informed him there were "complaints" that illegal messages were sent from a number linked to his Aadhaar. 

Despite Thyagarajan's denials, the caller asked him to "cooperate for a brief investigation". 

The fraudsters accused him of being in cahoots with Naresh Goyal, the Jet Airways founder under investigation for money laundering. They shared an "arrest warrant" and summoned him to Mumbai for custody till the court case was completed. The other option was "digital arrest". 

Under duress, Thyagarajan chose the latter. For the next five days, he was put under round-the-clock surveillance through Skype. 

"They told me it was a national secret and a matter of national security. They said I cannot tell anyone, including my family, for six months until the investigation is completed," he told the police. 

The fraudsters later asked him to share details of his bank accounts and other assets to be frozen as part of the probe. They also sent him a fake court order. He wired them Rs 7.78 lakh, in multiple transactions, between July 25 and 29. 

On July 29, when the final transaction of Rs 90,000 was made to the conmen's bank account, Thyagarajan received an alert from the SBI call centre that the receiving account was "suspicious". This prompted him to demand answers from the impersonators. 

"I requested the investigating officer, Sandeep Rao, on Skype for his ID. He showed up on camera in an officer’s uniform. On further request, he produced a Mumbai police ID card," Thyagarajan told the police. 

Suddenly, the penny dropped and Thyagarajan realised the con. He lodged a complaint with the East CEN Crime police station. A case was registered on July 31. 

IP traced to Cambodia 

A police officer told DH that the IP address used during the Skype call was traced to Cambodia. 

"We have also sought the IP address used to access the bank accounts," the officer said. "Details are awaited." 

CBI caution

In a statement on X, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) asked citizens to be alert about scams misusing the names and designations of senior CBI Officers. 

"Fake documents carrying signature of CBI Officers, including Director, CBI coupled with fake warrants/ summons are circulated to commit frauds, especially on the Internet/emails/WhatsApp etc. 

"Publicly available CBI logo is misused by some criminals as their display picture to make calls, mainly through WhatsApp, to extort money... Any such attempt should be immediately reported to the local Police," it said.