Man, held under digital arrest, loses ₹11.8 crore to cyber-fraudsters

Vijay Kumar swindled of ₹11.8 crore by fake TRAI officials in digital arrest scam, case registered by cybercrime police.

The North East division cybercrime police have registered a case against unidentified persons who posing as officials Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) officials, threatened to book a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 and swindled ₹11.8 crore on the pretext of verifying his bank accounts.

The victim, Vijay Kumar, 39, a resident of GKVK Layout, was threatened with fake cases, held under “digital arrest” for almost a month, claiming that he was under investigation and accessed his bank accounts and transferred the money. Realising that he had been cheated, the victim approached the police and filed a complaint.

According to the complaint, Mr Kumar received a call from unknown people claiming to be from TRAI and informed him that his SIM number was being used for illegal activities and Mumbai Police had probed a case. The caller informed him further that using his Aadhaar card, a person identified as Naresh Goel had opened a bank account in a nationalized bank and used the account for money laundering to the tune of ₹6 crore.

The accused made him download a video calling app and said that he was under “digital arrest” and forced him to give access to all his bank accounts for verification. Vijay Kumar followed their instructions for the past one month and did not reveal this to anyone, as they had ed this to anyone as they threatened him with dire consequences.

The accused accessed all his nine bank accounts and made transactions totalling worth ₹11,83,55,648.52 between November 11 and December 12. The victim, after realising his money was transferred, revealed this to his family members before approaching the police.