Rohan Umak
Gujarat woman digitally arrested: Amid a string of digital arrest frauds, another case has emerged from Gujarat’s Rajkot on Friday, where a retired woman was defrauded of Rs 78 lakh by scammers posing as law enforcement agency officials, the police said. According to police, the scammers kept the woman under digital siege for 10 days.
Crook posing as telecom official frightens woman
Officials aware of the case said that the woman’s ordeal began when she received a call earlier, from a man posing as a telecom official. He told her that a SIM card registered in her name was being used to circulate obscene content online, owing to which a complaint had been lodged against her in Mumbai.
The crook then redirected the call to one of his aides, who impersonated a representative from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The fake CBI representative identified himself as Vijay Patil and made a video call to the woman, while donning a police uniform. He accused the woman of involvement in serious offences, including money laundering and cyber terrorism.
Moreover, the crooks staged a mock courtroom scene to intensify the deception, where one crook posed as a judge and threatened the victim with severe punishment, including life term.
Woman kept under digital surveillance for 10 days
The woman was kept under digital surveillance for 10 days. During this, she was coerced into liquidating her fixed deposits and transferring her life savings into the bank accounts of the accused. Only when she exhausted her funds and reached out to her family members for help, did the case come to light.
Gujarat woman digitally arrested: Cops suspect inter-state network
The Rajkot cyber cell sleuths said that the siphoned money was routed through ‘mule accounts’ spread across several states, including Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. They said four bank accounts have been frozen so far, and the cell phone numbers used in the scam are being tracked to trace the accused.
Separate APK fraud case reported
In another such incident, a 60-year-old retired man, named Hitesh Dholakia, fell prey to an APK scam and ended up losing Rs 5.66 lakh. A fraudster impersonating a bank employee convinced him to download a malicious APK file via WhatsApp on the pretext of providing KYC details. This paved the way for crooks to access his device remotely and siphon funds through multiple transactions.
Cyber crime officials have urged people to remain vigilant, reiterating that government agencies never carry out arrests over video calls, and never demand money to settle cases. Additionally, they also warned against downloading APL files from unverified sources, as these can grant hackers complete control over their devices.
