‘Digital arrest’ turns into weeks for Lucknow teacher, costs her ₹78 lakh
In the FIR, she said she first received WhatsApp calls from two unknown numbers informing her that a bank account was opened in her name in Delhi and people were putting money in it
In what is assumed to be the first-of-its-kind case of ‘digital arrest’ in the city, a 59-year-old teacher was allowed to do chores, go to her school and run other errands for 22 days that she was scammed, police said. All this while, no one suspected that the senior teacher was going through the ordeal.
Before seeking police help, Pramila Maansingh, who teaches at a private school here, lost ₹78 lakh to fraudsters impersonating CBI officers from March 1 to 22, Lucknow cyber police said.
Police, meanwhile, froze a bank account with ₹38.80 lakh that belonged to the fraudsters.
“Pramila Maansingh, who lives in Indira Nagar, was convinced by the crooks that one of her bank accounts was being used for illegal activity, and a probe had been initiated against her,” said Brijesh Yadav, the SHO of Cyber Police Station here. He added that an FIR had been registered under relevant BNS sections and Section 66D of the IT Act, 2008.
The case is similar to that of a retired teacher, who was kept under ‘digital arrest’ for a week last November. The 69-year-old woman, whose son and daughter-in-law are doctors, was made to go to a bank and deposit ₹18 lakh in the bank account of her fraudsters as she wasn’t familiar with internet banking.
According to police, the teacher, who lives alone, was harassed and warned of consequences if she didn’t cooperate with the thugs.
In the FIR, she said she first received WhatsApp calls from two unknown numbers informing her that a bank account was opened in her name in Delhi and people were putting laundered money in it. “When she told them she didn’t own that account and hadn’t even gone to Delhi, the thugs insisted that she transfer some money to them for the investigation,” police said.
The men told her they would return the money once the investigation was over.
No digital arrest in law; misuse of CBI logo
The in-charge of the cybercrime police station in Vibhuti Khand, Brijesh Kumar Yadav, said digital arrest did not exist in law. He said scamsters forced people to stay live on Skype and other similar platforms until their demands were met. The fraudsters usually pretended that they were calling from a police station or any other law enforcement agency to make people believe them, he added.
In a note, the CBI said the publicly available CBI logo was being misused by some criminals.
