Hyderabad’s Cybercrime police arrests two from Gujarat for ‘digital arrest’ fraud
Hyderabad: In a significant development in ‘Digital Arrest’ cases, the Cybercrime unit of Hyderabad arrested two persons, who are natives of Gujarat, on Wednesday.
The accused duo were involved in 17 ‘digital arrest’ cases across several states in the country. They have been identified as 54-year-old Harpal Singh, a home loan consultant from Ahmedabad and 50-year-old Saiyad Aiyub Bhai, who is a Surat-based property dealer.
Explaining their modus operandi, the police said, the accused persons would masquerade as representatives of Telecom Department, TRAI, CBI, Cybercrime police, Income Tax department, FEDEX Courier etc., while contacting the vulnerable people over platforms such as WhatsApp and Skype.
After contacting the people, the scammers would threaten the victims by showing the court order copies and would make them believe that they were involved in serious offences such as money laundering and terrorist activities and thus hold them under the ‘digital arrest’, the police said.
The fraudsters would further caution their victims against disclosing the matter to others, saying it was a national secret issue and confidentiality has to be maintained. They would warn them that if they spill the beans their family members would face consequences.
Recently, a 63-year-old retired government employee fell prey to the ‘digital arrest’ scam in Hyderabad. The senior citizen lost Rs. 8 lakh to fraudsters after they put him under fear that he was involved in a money laundering case linked to a Rs. 66,000 crore fraud.
The police said the scammers posing as representatives of the Telecom Department contacted the victim, claiming his mobile number would be disconnected as he was booked in a case at the Andheri police station in Mumbai.
He was later made to speak to another fraudster who posed as a special officer from CBI. The fake CBI officer claimed that a bank account had been opened in his name and linked him to a money laundering scam. The fraudsters then put the victim and his wife under ‘digital arrest’ for five hours and forced them to transfer Rs. 8 lakh to various bank accounts.
