Beware! Noida Doctor Duped Of Rs 59 Lakh As 'Digital Arrest' Scamsters Strike Again
According to complaint filed by Dr Puja Goyal, she received a call on July 13 from someone who claimed to be an official of TRAI. The caller allegedly said her phone was being used to circulate porn.
A woman doctor from Noida was allegedly duped out of Rs 59 lakh earlier this month after she fell prey to the notorious 'digital arrest' scam, a bamboozling technique increasingly being used by cybercriminals in Delhi-NCR.
According to the complaint filed by Dr Puja Goyal, NDTV reported, she received a call on July 13 from someone who claimed to be an official of the Telephone Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The caller allegedly said her phone was being used to circulate porn.
She denied the allegations, but the caller persuaded her to join a video call, after which he reportedly told her she was under 'digital arrest'. After 48 hours of questioning, she transferred Rs 59.54 lakh into an account on the caller's instructions. However, she subsequently realised she had been scammed and lodged a complaint with Noida Police on July 22.
NDTV quoted Assistant Commissioner of Police (cybercrime) Vivek Ranjan Rai as saying that they had the details of the account into which the money was transferred. "They are being verified and action will be taken," he added.
Digital arrest is fast emerging as a preferred tactic among scamsters to scare people and then dupe them. In such cases, scamsters call their targets in the guise of law-enforcement or government officials — even flaunting fake IDs — and allege they have been linked to a certain crime. For example, they could call you and say a courier package in your name had been found to contain narcotics. They then tell the target they are under 'digital arrest', and run the ploy until the victim coughs up a certain amount.
Elderly Women Duped Into Transferring Rs 83 lakh
A similar incident was reported on June 27, 2024, in Delhi's posh Chittaranjan Park area, when a 72-year-old woman was allegedly duped into transferring Rs 83 lakh. Krishna Dasgupta was also reportedly informed that her phone had been used for criminal activities. The scamsters questioned the elderly woman for more than 12 hours.
Noida Police recently issued an advisory, where it warned the general public about such scams, noting that around 10 incidents of this nature had been reported.
The police emphasised verifying suspicious calls, particularly those on WhatsApp or other video platforms, and checking all the credentials of callers through official channels. "If a suspicious call claims that legal action is being taken or asks for personal or financial information, citizens should immediately report it to the nearest police station or cyber cell," the advisory stated.
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