Noida family kept under ‘digital arrest’ for 5 days, loses over ₹1 crore in scam
Uttar Pradesh resident Chandrabhan Paliwal lost ₹1.10 crore after being threatened by fake police in cyber fraud.
A family in Uttar Pradesh's Noida lost over ₹1 crore after being held under ‘digital arrest’ for five days by unidentified persons posing as government officials, news agency PTI reported, citing police on Monday.
Explaining the scam, police said, “'Digital arrest' is a new cyber fraud, where the accused pose as law enforcement agency officials, like CBI or customs officials, and threaten people with arrest by making video calls in the name of fake international parcels of banned drugs.”
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How was the family trapped?
According to the police, Chandrabhan Paliwal complained that he received a call from an unknown number on February 1. The caller instructed him to contact the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and warned him that his SIM card would be blocked.
Shortly after, the caller informed Paliwal that his case had been forwarded to the Cyber Crime Branch in Mumbai. About 10 minutes later, a person claiming to be an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer made a video call to Paliwal from Mumbai's Kolava Police Station, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crime) Preeti Yadav told PTI.
Paliwal recounted that the fake police officer accused him of extortion and claimed that 24 cases were registered against him at various locations. The caller also alleged that the CBI was investigating him for money laundering, the DCP said.
Paliwal further informed the police that his wife and daughter were also put under “digital arrest” after receiving video calls from the fraudsters. According to the DCP, the callers threatened to arrest them soon if they did not pay the demanded amount.
Yadav said that the complainant ended up paying ₹1.10 crore to the accused over five days. A case has been registered, and further investigation is underway.
IIT Delhi student duped of ₹4.3 lakh
In a similar fraud, a student from IIT Delhi fell victim to a cyber scam, losing ₹4.33 lakh after being placed under “digital arrest,” PTI reported, citing police on February 6. The scammer, identified as 29-year-old Madan Lal, was traced and arrested in Chennai.
According to the investigation, Lal withdrew the scammed money, converted it into US dollars and cryptocurrency, and sold it to a Chinese national for a profit.
The fraud began on November 16 when the fourth-year engineering student received a call from someone posing as a courier service agent, falsely claiming a suspicious parcel in his name was being sent from Mumbai to Beijing. The scammers, impersonating police and ED officials, accused him of criminal activities and threatened arrest.
Under pressure, the student transferred ₹4.33 lakh between November 16 and 18 through multiple online transactions to prove his innocence.
(With PTI inputs)