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Be vigilant against conmen posing as officers: CBI advisory
Digital arrest does not exist in law. Victims are forced to stay visible over video conferencing platforms until the demands of fraudsters are met. Conmen use the background of a police station or other law enforcement agencies to make people believe them, says in-charge of cyber crime police station
LUCKNOW In wake of multiple digital arrest incidents in Lucknow and other parts of the country, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday issued an advisory to the public to be vigilant against conmen posing as officers/acquaintances of officers and fraudulent e-mails bearing the agency’s logo.
Officials stated that fake documents carrying signatures of CBI officers, fake warrants and summons were circulated to commit frauds, especially on the Internet, WhatsApp etc.
“Digital arrest does not exist in law. Victims are forced to stay visible over video conferencing platforms until the demands of fraudsters are met. Conmen use the background of a police station or other law enforcement agencies or forged documents carrying signatures of senior law enforcement officers to make people believe them,” said Brijesh Kumar Yadav, in-charge of cyber crime police station in Vibhuti Khand.
The CBI logo is misused by some criminals as their display picture to make calls, mainly through WhatsApp, to extort money. The public is advised to be cautious and not fall prey to such scams. Any such attempt should be reported immediately to the local police, officials were quoted as saying in a release by the CBI.
In the past 45 days, at least three cases of digital arrest were reported in Lucknow. On June 25, one Manvi Mehrotra, resident of Indira Nagar in Lucknow, was duped of ₹13.73 lakh by cyber criminals posing as CBI officers and threatening to book her in a money laundering case. Her money was restored as she lodged a complaint with the cyber crime police station.
Similarly on June 6, a poet Naresh Saxena faced a six-hour digital arrest at his house at the hands of cybercrooks posing as CBI officers. The scammers, who aimed to con the elderly poet by threatening him with arrest in a money laundering case, made him recite poetry for hours. He filed the complaint with the Gomti Nagar police station on July 7.
The technical officer at the geochemistry department of Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences was duped of ₹50,000 by cyber criminals in his office hours on July 10. The caller introduced himself as an employee of the cybercrime department and informed him that there was a parcel in his name containing 140 grams of MDM and other illegal items. The conman threatened the officer with legal action.
