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.)

New Delhi:

The CBI, police, customs, Enforcement Directorate or judges do not arrest people through video calls, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) said in a public advisory issued in view of the rising cases of ‘digital arrest’ crimes in the country.

Terming it a scam, the federal cyber security agency cautioned people against falling victim to such crimes committed using the Internet.

“Don’t Panic, Stay Alert. CBI/Police/Custom/ED/Judges DO NOT arrest you on video call,” stated the advisory issued on Saturday.

The advisory depicted the logos of social media platforms like WhatsApp and Skype to showcase that calls for such scams are made using such platforms.

These social media platforms have said in the past that they are coordinating with cyber security agencies of the government to provide users enhanced safety against such crimes.

The I4C urged people to report such crimes at the central helpline number 1930 or the website — www.cybercrime.gov.in.

Digital arrest is the name given to a cyber crime technique where fraudsters send an SMS or make video calls to a person posing as law enforcement agency officials fraudulently claiming that the individual or his close family members have been caught by a government investigative agency in a criminal activity like drugs trafficking or money laundering.

The cybercriminal subsequently confines the person to their premises by asking them to keep their mobile phone cameras on as part of a ‘digital arrest’ and then seek money through online transfer to bail the victim out of this situation.

A good number of these new-age cyber crimes are virtually reported every day from various parts of the country. 

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

New Delhi:

Centre has introduced a new system to identify and block incoming international spoofed calls before they can reach Indian telecom subscribers. 

This comes amid a spate of incidents where users were “digitally arrested”, and threatened with mobile disconnection, cybercriminals even impersonation of government officials or law enforcement agencies, including false accusations involving drugs, narcotics, and sex rackets. Recently, Vardhaman Group head was cheated of Rs 7 crore. 

How Does The System Work

The system has been deployed in two phases – First, at the Telecom Service Provider (TSP) level, to prevent calls spoofed with phone numbers of their subscribers. Second, at a central level, to stop calls spoofed with the number of subscribers from other TSPs. 

The Centre said all four TSPs have successfully implemented the system.

The Centre said around 4.5 million spoofed calls are being stopped from entering the Indian telecom network. The next phase, involving a centralized system which will eliminate the remaining spoofed calls across all TSPs, is expected to be commissioned soon.

Recently, a fraudster impersonating Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, a fake virtual courtroom and documents closely resembling original ones were part of the elaborate plan through which Vardhman Group head SP Oswal was duped of Rs 7 crore.

Mr Oswal, chairman and managing director of the textile manufacturer, was put under “digital arrest” on August 28 and 29 and made to transfer Rs 7 crore into multiple accounts. Police have managed to freeze these accounts and recover over Rs 5 crore so far.

Read more: A Call, Digital Arrest, Rs 7 Crore Transferred: How Vardhman Boss Was Duped

One of the key techniques used by every scammer in a ‘digital arrest’ is surveillance and victims are asked to stay on a video call over Skype, Zoom or any such platform on their laptop and switch to a video call on their phone even if they move to another room. 

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, several victims have lost large amounts of money to scammers carrying out ‘digital arrests’.

Experts say the fear psychosis that scamsters create in the minds of their victims, makes them believe that whatever they are being told is real and they are indeed under investigation for serious crimes, with the potential of being locked up for an extended period if they don’t comply. 

Read more: Surveillance, Fear: How People Are Losing Crores To ‘Digital Arrest’ Scams

Next Course Of Action

Cybercriminals have devised new ways to scam people, trying to bypass technological safety measures deployed by the Centre to protect users. The Telecom department has urged people to report such crimes which would help the department to devise new strategies to counter cyber fraud.

The Centre has provided the Chakshu portal to report such calls on the ‘Sanchar Saathi’ platform. 

The Chakshu facility is a step towards safeguarding users from cyber fraud. It provides a streamlined process for reporting suspicious activities and helps in the early detection and prevention of potential fraud.

The telecom department is using AI tools to identify the mobile connections taken on forged documents or taken exceeding the prescribed limits for an individual. Such mobile connections along with telecom resources and mobile handsets used in fraudulent activities are being weeded out from the telecom ecosystem.