A 64-year-old retired officer from Dheera tehsil in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district was allegedly kept under “digital arrest” for nearly a month and cheated of ₹33 lakh by cyber fraudsters who posed as officials of a telecommunications company, police and the CBI.
The fraudsters allegedly threatened to implicate him in a ₹6.8 crore money laundering case and used the fear of arrest to keep him under pressure.
Fraudsters Posed as Police and CBI Officials
According to a complaint registered with Cyber Crime Police Station Dharamshala, the victim received a phone call on July 30. The caller claimed that a bank account had been opened using his Aadhaar card and that the account had been used for transactions linked to a ₹6.8 crore money laundering case.
Another fraudster allegedly posed as an IPS officer and claimed that an arrest warrant had been issued against the retired officer. He allegedly demanded ₹70 lakh as commission to settle the matter. A person posing as a CBI officer also allegedly pretended to keep the victim under surveillance, claiming that two people had been deployed for his security.
Proposal for Conducting Cyber Crisis Drill, Tabletop Exercise (TTEx) & CCMP Readiness Exercise
₹33 Lakh Transferred Under Pressure
The victim was allegedly instructed to provide updates every one to two hours and inform the fraudsters whenever he left or returned home. The accused also allegedly used the pretext of checking his bank account and mobile phone to persuade him to transfer money to a designated account.
Under pressure, the retired officer transferred ₹4 lakh through RTGS on August 12 and another ₹29 lakh on August 20 to accounts provided by the fraudsters.
The alleged intimidation continued for nearly a month. On the morning of August 28, the phone and video calls from the fraudsters suddenly stopped. The victim then realised that he had been cheated.
Police have registered a case under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act. Further investigation is underway.
How to Stay Safe From Digital Arrest Scams
- Police have advised people not to trust callers who pose as officers and threaten arrest over the phone. Demands for money in the name of an investigation or avoiding arrest should be treated with suspicion.
- Do not transfer money merely because a caller threatens arrest or claims to be conducting an investigation.
- Never share OTPs, ATM PINs, complete bank account details or passwords with unknown people.
- Preserve suspicious phone numbers, bank details, chat messages and transaction receipts connected to the fraud.
- Verify claims independently instead of following instructions given by threatening callers.
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