A businessman in Bhopal was saved from being looted by cyber criminals by Madhya Pradesh police after he was under ‘digital arrest’. According to a PTI report, Vivek Oberoi, a resident of Area Colony in the city received a call around 1 PM on Saturday from individuals who said they were officials of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), an MP police cyber cell release said.
Oberoi was connected to people who identified themselves as CBI and Mumbai crime branch officials by the scammers.
According to PTI, Oberoi was trapped by claims that multiple fake bank accounts were opened using his Aadhaar, which was allegedly also used to buy SIM cards for unsolicited marketing purposes. The scammers then told Oberoi to download the Skype video app and then asked him to stay in a room. By that time, the businessman had alerted the MP cyber police and cops reached his room amid his ‘digital arrest’.
“Digital arrest” is a type of online fraud where scammers impersonate law enforcement or government officials to convince victims that they are under arrest.
The MP police demanded ID verification of the fake law enforcement officials, but the scammers disconnected the video call. Though the fraudsters had the Oberoi’s bank details during his “digital arrest”, they hadn’t transferred the money yet.
Last month, cybercriminals allegedly duped a retired government official in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad of Rs 60 lakh by impersonating police officials. The fraudsters blamed the 65-year-old man for being involved in kids’ trafficking and placed him under ‘digital arrest’.
The victim, identified as Preetam Singh, a resident of Indirapuram approached the police and a case was registered at the cybercrime branch police station.
The police registered a case under sections 204 (personating a public servant) and 318(4) (cheating and dishonesty) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and IT Act in connection with the case and efforts are underway to freeze the transferred amount.