Digital arrest: IIT Delhi student duped of ₹4.3 lakh, scammer converts money to crypto

While the scam happened in November, 2024, the accused, identified as Madan Lal, was traced to Chennai and taken into custody on Thursday, police informed.

A student of Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) was duped by a cyber fraudster of ₹4.33 lakh by getting placed under “digital arrest”, an official said on Thursday, adding that the scammer was arrested from Chennai.

The accused, identified as Madan Lal, 29, was traced to Chennai and taken into custody, police said on Thursday(Pixabay/Representative)

The accused, identified as Madan Lal, 29, was traced to Chennai and taken into custody, news agency PTI quoted police as saying.

Probe revealed that the accused withdrew the cheated money from ATMs, converted it into US dollars and cryptocurrency, and then sold them to a Chinese national at higher rates, receiving payments in bank accounts.

On November 16 of last year, a fourth-year engineering student at IIT Delhi received a call from someone claiming to be from a courier service, who falsely informed the student that a suspicious parcel in his name was being shipped from Mumbai to Beijing, police said.

The fraudsters impersonated police and Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials and accused the student of being involved in criminal activities.

The fraudsters threatened the student with arrest, claiming a warrant had been issued in his name. Exploiting the IIT student's fear, the scammers coerced him into transferring money to various bank accounts to prove his innocence, police said.

In panic, the student transferred ₹4.33 lakh from November 16 to November 18 through multiple online transactions.

"When he later realised he had been deceived, he lodged a police complaint. An FIR was registered, and further investigation was taken up," said the DCP.

Investigators, using tracking the money trail and analysing digital evidence, found that a foreign number from Hong Kong had been used to contact the complainant.

Further probe revealed that a portion of the defrauded money was transferred to a bank account linked to one Tejpal Sharma from Rai Singh Nagar in Rajasthan.

"Sharma was apprehended and interrogated. He admitted to handing over his ATM card to his friend Gagandeep Singh, who had then changed the account's registered mobile number. Investigators traced Gagandeep, who revealed that he had provided the account to his associate, Bajrang. The team later apprehended Madan Lal from Chennai," said the DCP, adding that during interrogation, Madan Lal confessed to the crime.