IIT Bombay student loses Rs 7 lakh in 'digital arrest' scam

Mumbai: An IIT Bombay student lost Rs 7.29 lakh after a fraudster posed as a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) employee and coerced him into paying the money by intimidating him under the pretext of 'digital arrest', police said on Tuesday.

'Digital arrest' is a new and growing form of cyber fraud in which fraudsters pose as law enforcement officials or personnel of government agencies, and intimidate victims through audio/video calls. They hold the victims hostage and put pressure on the victims to make payment.

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

The caller claimed that in order prevent deactivation of his number, the victim has to obtain a no objection certificate (NOC) from the police, and told the victim that he was transferring the call to the Cyber Crime Branch, he said.

"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 Rs 29,500 via unified payments interface (UPI)," he added.

The accused then threatened the victim, claiming he was placed under digital arrest and was prohibited from contacting anyone, he said.

The scammers called him the next day, demanding more money. This time, the victim shared his bank account details, which enabled the fraudsters to siphon off Rs 7 lakh from his account. After receiving the money, the accused told him that he was safe and would not face arrest, the police said.

Realising he had been duped after conducting an online search about digital arrest, the student approached the police and lodged a complaint against the unidentified accused, the official said.