The cyber cell attached to the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police managed to make a reversal amounting Rs.6.65 lakh which an elderly man had lost to online fraud having a strikingly similar modus operandi to the infamous digital arrest fraud.
The senior citizen identified as- Gurusaday Bhattacharya- a resident of Bhayandar in his complaint registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCCRP), stated that he received a call from an unknown number. The caller who posed as an official attached to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) made him believe that multiple complaints had been filed against his mobile number for illegal activities.
Bhattacharya was placed under digital arrest as he was instructed not to interact with anyone. He was then pressured to transfer money in specified bank account numbers in order to avoid legal proceedings against him. The terrified complainant complied and ended up transferring Rs.6.65 lakhs, before realising that he had been duped by the impersonators. In response to the complaint the cyber cell led by police inspector-Sujitkumar Gunjkar started investigations by launching a money trail in suspicious bank accounts which were used to park the ill-gotten wealth.
After relentless follow-ups with the concerned banks for the past more than three months, the team managed to revert the amount which was credited to the bank account of the complainant following orders from the district court, Thane.
The cyber cell handed over a symbolic cheque to the complainant confirming the reversal on Thursday. The government has been issuing advisories warning citizens about "digital arrest" scams, where cybercriminals impersonate officials from various law enforcement agencies to deceive people and fleece their hard-earned money. Notably, there is no such concept like digital arrest under the Indian judicial system.
Stressing upon the need to be careful while dealing with unknown callers/senders and to lodge complaint as soon as possible, Gunjkar said that people can contact the local police stations or directly approach or call the cybercrime cell on 1930 with an additional option of reporting online frauds through email at www.cybercrime.gov.in or registering complaints on the NCRP- which is an online platform for reporting cybercrimes.
