Amid the alarming rise in cyber frauds, the scammers are now exceedingly resorting to using new tactics to exploit individuals and rob them of lakhs and crores. Nowadays, scammers are using "digital arrest" as a new tactic to threaten people by impersonating officers of law enforcement agencies and accusing individuals of serious crimes that would lead to their arrests.
They send forged documents to make their claims look credible and then demand money to "settle" the matter. The fraudsters instill fear and panic in the victims and present themselves with such credibility, often leaving people caught up in the scam with no opportunity or means to verify or understand if all of it is true.
However, the woman's awareness about such "digital arrest scams" helped her thwart a fraudster's bid to take advantage of her.
A recording of a scammer calling a woman has come to the fore in which he can be heard introducing himself as a "cyber crime branch officer" from Lucknow. He calls the woman and tells her that he is coming to her house to arrest her, accusing her of finding "objectionable record" in her mobile phone.
He then asks her to check the watchlist history of her YouTube account as he tries to build pressure on her, claiming that the cyber crime branch had already arrested 21 people in this regard, including eight women. He also claims that a man working as a constable was also arrested. The scammer even played the sound of blaring sirens in the background to make it sound like he was a real cop and was actually on his way to the woman's house to arrest her.
After patiently hearing all this, the woman interrupts the scammer midway and says, "Sir, if you are coming to my house then there is a momo shop nearby. Please bring momos for me...And please do not forget the mayonnaise."
Hearing this, the scammer pretends to ask someone to stop the vehicle and turns down the sound of the siren. Taken aback by the unexpected response from the woman, he asks her, "What were you saying? Please repeat."
The woman then replies, "Sir, I was saying you were coming to my house and there is a momo shop in the way...Please raste se momos le ana mayonnaise ke sath [bring momos with the mayonnaise]."
The scammer then says, "Achha Achha. Humari team apka swagat abhi achhe se karegi [Okay okay. Our team will welcome you properly shortly]," and hangs up as the woman says okay.
Listen to the call recording here:
However, it is always advisable to avoid taking such calls, and hang up if have picked up. Also, one should never share personal or financial details over such calls and report the incident to the Cyber Crime cell immediately.