Noida: A 50-year-old woman from Noida has fallen victim to a new cyber fraud trend, losing Rs 11 lakh in what has been termed as a case of “digital arrest.” The perpetrators, impersonating police personnel, managed to convince the victim that her involvement in a fictitious money-laundering case warranted her “digital arrest” for a day.
The Uttar Pradesh police has initiated an investigation into the incident, which was reported at the cybercrime police station in Noida. This marks the first such case reported from Noida.
According to official reports, the fraudsters posted as law enforcement officers and dropped names, including that of an IPS officer in the CBI and the founder of a defunct airline, to link the victim to a concocted money-laundering scenario.
The victim, who reported the matter to the UP police cybercrime officials, outlined the sequence of events in her complaint. She revealed that the fraudsters initially contacted her through an IVR (interactive voice response) call on November 13. The call informed her that a mobile phone SIM card had been purchased in Mumbai using her Aadhaar card for illegal activities such as advertising and harassment of women.
The call was then allegedly transferred to a person claiming to be a Mumbai Police officer who conducted an initial interrogation over the call and subsequently via Skype video call. During the fake interrogation, the fraudster informed the victim of another allegation of money laundering related to the founder of an airline. They went on to claim that an FIR had been registered against her, and an arrest warrant had been issued by the Supreme Court.
The victim, coerced into believing her innocence, was then asked to transfer funds from all her accounts to her ICICI account. The fraudsters, using elaborate and fabricated details, convinced her to transfer the funds from the ICICI account to another account, citing the directives of the Supreme Court. The entire process was framed as a means to clear her name from the fictitious charges.
Additionally, the victim alleged that the fraudsters, in an attempt to validate her Aadhaar card for the fake investigation, took a picture of her signature during the Skype call.
Inspector Reeta Yadav, in charge of the cybercrime police station in Noida Sector 36, stated that a case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code.
Further investigation is underway.