Digital arrest is a new technique used by scammers to rob innocent people of their money and a 25-year-old student from IIT Bombay is the latest victim. He lost over Rs 7.29 lakhs to the scam. As per a PTI report, the scam took place in July and the scammers posed as officials from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The student received a call from an unknown number claiming to be a TRAI representative. He accused him of being involved in illegal activities, including money laundering. The student was told that 17 complaints had been filed against his mobile number and was told that his number would be deactivated unless he obtained a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the police.
He then received a WhatsApp video call from someone impersonating a police officer. The student was then asked for his Aadhaar number and Rs 29,500 via UPI to avoid arrest. The victim was then told he was under “digital arrest”. He was told that he should not contact anyone during this time. The next day, he got another call where the fraudsters pressured the student into sharing his bank account details. He was asked to pay Rs 7 lakhs to prevent any further action.
Only once he searched about “Digital Arrest” did he find out that all this was a big scam.
Digital arrest is a new scheming technique that is being used by scammers widely. Scammers force the targets to sit on long video calls without contacting anyone to create fear and panic, and to extort money from them.
We have even made a video on Digital Arrest that you should check out to get more details and to know how you can stay safe.