Bengaluru:

Within five hours while sitting at home in India, retired professor Kamta Prasad Singh handed over his hard-earned savings to online fraudsters impersonating police. The cybercrime known as “digital arrest” — where fraudsters pose online as law enforcement officials and order people to transfer huge amounts of money — has become so rampant that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has issued warnings.

Singh told AFP that money was his life savings.

“Over the years, I have skipped having tea outside, walked to avoid spending on public transport,” the 62-year-old said, his voice breaking.

“Only I know how I saved my money.”

Police say scammers have exploited the vast gap between the breakneck speed of India’s data digitalisation, from personal details to online banking, and the lagging awareness of many of basic internet safety.

Fraudsters are using technology for data breaches, targeting information their victims believe is only available to government authorities, and making otherwise unlikely demands appear credible.

Indians have emptied their bank accounts “out of sheer fear”, PM Modi said in an October radio broadcast, adding fraudsters “create so much psychological pressure on the victim”.

‘Ruined’

Mobile phones, and especially video calling, have allowed fraudsters to reach straight into people’s homes.

India runs the world’s largest biometric digital identity programme — called “Aadhaar”, or foundation in Hindi — a unique card issued to India’s more than one billion people, and increasingly required for financial transactions.

Scammers often claim they are police investigating questionable payments, quoting their target’s Aadhaar number to appear genuine. They then request their victim make a “temporary” bank transfer to validate their accounts, before stealing the cash.

Singh, from India’s eastern state of Bihar, said the web of lies began when he received a call in December, seemingly from the telecom regulatory authority.

“They said… police were on their way to arrest me,” Singh said.

The fraudsters told Singh that his Aadhaar ID was being misused for illegal payments.

Terrified, Singh agreed to prove he had control of his bank account, and after spiralling threats, transferred over $16,100 (Rs 13,92,532).

“I have lost sleep, don’t feel like eating,” he said. “I have been ruined.”

‘Rot in proverbial hell’

The surge of online scams is worrying because of “how valid they make it look and sound”, said police officer Sushil Kumar, who handled cybercrimes for half a decade. The perpetrators range from school dropouts to highly educated individuals.

“They know what to search for on the internet to find out basic details of how government agencies work,” Kumar added.

India registered 17,470 cybercrimes in 2022, including 6,491 cases of online bank fraud, according to the latest government data.

Tricks vary. Kaveri, 71, told AFP her story on condition her name was changed.

She said fraudsters posed as officials from the US courier FedEx, claiming she had sent a package containing drugs, passports and credit cards.

They offered her full name and Aadhaar ID details as “proof”, followed by well-forged letters from the Central Bank of India and Central Bureau of Investigation, the country’s top investigative agency.

“They wanted me to send money, which would be returned in 30 minutes,” she said, adding she was convinced when they sent a “properly signed letter”.

She transferred savings from a house sale totalling around $120,000 in four instalments over six days before the fraudsters vanished.

Kaveri says those days felt “like a tunnel”.

Meeta, 35, a private health professional from Bengaluru who also did not want to be identified, was conned by fake police via a video call.

“It seemed like a proper police station, with walkie-talkie noises,” she said.

The scammers told her to prove she controlled her bank account by taking out a 200,000 rupee ($2,300) loan via her bank’s phone app, before demanding she make a “temporary” transfer.

Despite making it clear to the bank that she had been scammed, Meeta continues to be asked to pay back the loan.

“My trust in banks has mostly gone,” she said, before cursing the thieves.

“I hope they rot in proverbial hell.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Ahmedabad:

A 90-year-old man in Gujarat’s Surat lost his entire life savings of over Rs 1 crore to fraudsters, who posed as CBI officers and placed him under ‘digital arrest’ for 15 days, claiming that drugs were found in a parcel that was couriered in his name from Mumbai to China.

According to the Surat Crime Branch, five people have been arrested for the racket that was run in collaboration with a gang in China, but the mastermind is yet to be traced. The main accused, Parth Gopani, is suspected to be in Cambodia.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Bhavesh Rozia said the senior citizen, who traded in the stock market, had received a WhatsApp call from one of the scamsters, who identified himself as a CBI officer. The conmen claimed that 400 grams of MD drugs was found in a parcel that was reportedly couriered in the senior citizen’s name from Mumbai to China.

The accused also claimed that the man’s bank account details revealed he was indulging in money laundering, and threatened to register a case and arrest him and his family.

The DCP said that on the pretext of interrogation, the elderly man was placed under ‘digital arrest’ for 15 days and was asked about transactions carried out through his bank account. Subsequently, the accused transferred Rs 1,15,00,000 from the man’s account.

On learning about the incident, the victim’s family approached the Surat Cyber Cell and filed a complaint on October 29. Police said five people have been arrested but a search is on for mastermind Gopani.

Police have also released a sketch of Gopani, who is suspected to be in Cambodia.

Police said 46 debit cards of various banks, 23 bank cheque books, one vehicle, rubber stamps of four different firms, nine mobile phones and 28 SIM cards were recovered from the arrested men.

Those arrested are Ramesh Surana, Umesh Jinjala, Naresh Surana, Rajesh Deora and Gaurang Rakholiya.

According to cyber law expert and advocate Pawan Duggal, “digital arrest’ is the phenomenon of trying to put somebody in a sense of fear and panic and thereafter, going ahead and extorting money from the said person under some mistaken notion so as to make the said person a victim of a cybercrime.”

There have been several advisories warning people that there is no provision for ‘digital arrest’ or online investigation in Indian law enforcement and yet, several people have fallen prey to such scams, losing crores in the process.

The Centre had recently warned about a widespread cyber scam targeting individuals across the country. It said the scam involved fraudulent letters threatening people with ‘digital arrest’ unless they comply with the scammers’ demands.

Last month during an episode of his radio programme Mann Ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi drew attention to ‘digital arrests’ and warned people against such activities. “Beware of digital arrest frauds. There is no system like digital arrest under the law. No government agency will ever contact you via phone or video call for such an investigation,” he said.

Aligarh:

A retired Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) professor was allegedly duped of more than Rs 75 lakhs by fraudsters posing as Enforcement Directorate (ED) and putting her under ‘digital arrest’ for 10 days, police said on Sunday.

An FIR was lodged on Friday by Qamar Jahan and the police immediately issued an alert to the concerned banks. Police found that the money had been routed through 21 different bank accounts, they said.

Transactions worth Rs 13 lakh were blocked due to police intervention, they said.

Cyber police station inspector VD Panday, who is investigating the case told PTI that the victim was kept under “digital arrest for more than 10 days” during which the accused pressured Jahan to pay money to avoid arrest.

‘Digital arrest’ is a new cyber fraud, where the accused poses as law enforcement agency officials, like CBI or customs officials or ED, and threatens people of arrest by making video calls in the name of fake international parcels of banned drugs or money laundering cases.

The complainant told the police that she received the first call on September 28. The accused posed an Enforcement Directorate official and told her that she had conducted some dubious transactions, involving her in a money laundering case.

To avoid arrest, Jahan must deposit some money to the Court, the accused told the victim. He gave her some bank account numbers and the victim complied with the demands and deposited more than Rs 75 lakh.

However, two days ago she sensed that she had been duped and filed a complaint at the police station, they said.

During the past few weeks, several cases of digital arrest have been reported in the state. The police have issued advisories to the public stating that there is no provision for digital arrest.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)