Cyber fraud is becoming an epidemic in India. In the past few years, thousands of individuals have fallen victim to these cyber scams, losing lakhs and crores. While these cyber hawkers use different tricks to dupe people, one of the most prominent fraudulent plans is reportedly the ‘digital arrest’ scam, where scammers call unsuspecting individuals and threaten them into giving their money. The latest victim of this fraud has been reported from Pune, where a doctor was duped of Rs 70 lakh by scammers posing as law enforcement officials.
The victim was reportedly threatened with a fabricated human trafficking case and asked to transfer all her money as part of the investigation. According to the case reported by The Indian Express, the victim, who is a senior anaesthesiologist in her late 50s, was targeted by cybercriminals in late February. The scam began with a call from an unknown individual who introduced himself as a bank executive. The caller further informed her that a card registered in her name had malfunctioned and could be linked to criminal activity.
When the doctor denied owning such a card, the caller then informed her that her case had been transferred to CID and that she would soon be contacted by someone from ‘Delhi CID’ for further clarification.
Soon after the call, the victim received another call from another fraudster posing as a Delhi CID officer. This time, the scammers started a video call with the doctor. During the call, the victim saw the other person dressed in a police uniform and seated in a setting resembling a police station, making her believe the call was legitimate.
To make the scam more convincing, the scammer claimed that a summons had been issued against her. He then alleged that transactions worth Rs 3 crore had been traced to her bank accounts, linking her to international organ trafficking and child trafficking rackets. Threatening serious charges, the fraudster warned the doctor that she would be arrested if she failed to cooperate with the investigation.
Fearing legal consequences and damage to her reputation, the doctor agreed to follow the procedure and was manipulated into sharing details about her savings and investments. During the process, she was also reportedly contacted by another scammer posing as a prosecutor, who instructed her to transfer her funds to a ‘government account’ for verification, promising that the money would be returned soon. Thinking it to be a legal process, the doctor agreed to transfer the money. Over the next few days, she made five transfers totalling Rs 70 lakh to a fraudulent mule account.
However, the fraudsters didn’t stop there and even manipulated her into mortgaging her house to gather more funds. It was only when the victim contacted a relative for further assistance with the mortgage process that she realised she had been scammed. She immediately filed a complaint with the cybercrime police station, and an FIR was registered.
