'Digital Arrest' Scam: Fraudsters Use Delhi Blast Panic To Extort Rs 6.7 Lakh From Woman— Here's What Happened
The incident occurred between November 9 and 11 when the victim, Sunita Gaur, was told she had been placed under 'digital arrest'.
A Kanpur resident has allegedly been cheated of Rs 6.66 lakh after cyber scammers, posing as top-ranking anti-terrorism officers, falsely implicated her in the recent Delhi car bombing case to extort money.
The incident took place between Nov. 9 and 11 when the victim, Sunita Gaur, a resident of the Cantonment police station area, was allegedly placed under "digital arrest" after which she complained to the Cyber Cell.
Gaur reported receiving threatening phone calls on two consecutive days following the blasts. On Nov. 9, a caller claiming to be an ATS officer first contacted her. Pressure escalated the following day when another fraudster, identifying himself as an NIA officer, called her and said her name had "surfaced" in the bombing investigation and threatened her with immediate jail time.
They employed the sophisticated tactic of "digital arrest," convincing Gaur that she was officially detained and would face charges of terrorist involvement unless she complied with their demands. To "secure her safety" and clear her name, they demanded she transfer a substantial amount of money.
Fearing prosecution, Gaur transferred Rs 6.66 lakh to the criminals' account via RTGS without informing her family. It wasn't until three days after the money was transferred that she revealed the incident to her family, who promptly took her to the Cyber Cell to lodge a formal complaint, Navbharat Times reported.
The Cyber Cell team has launched an investigation to trace the bank account used by the fraudsters. The scammers exploited the national shock from the blast, the first major explosion in Delhi since 2011, to exploit Gaur.
ADCP Crime has issued a stern warning, advising the public to be aware of the "digital arrest" scam.
Fraudsters often impersonate as officials from agencies like the CBI, ED, ATS, and NIA, and use high-pressure tactics like claiming the victim's identity documents were used for illegal purposes or that narcotics were seized in a parcel addressed to them.
The ADCP stressed there is no such provision as "digital arrest" under the law, and urged citizens to be vigilant against these fear-based criminal traps. Kanpur police cyber cell is investigating the case.
