Amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab Cyber safe and secure state, Punjab Police’s Cybercrime Division has issued an advisory on digital arrest fraud. Digital Arrest is a cyber scam where fraudsters, act as law enforcement officials and then deceive the victims into believing that they have committed a serious crime and must stay visible online until their demands are met, exploiting fear to extort money.
Recently, Punjab Police’s Cybercrime Division busted an inter-state gang involved in digital arrest cyber fraud when a 76-years-old retired Government officer lodged a complaint that some people claiming to be from the Mumbai Cyber Crime had dumped him of Rs 76 lakhs by putting him under digital arrest via WhatsApp call.
Police arrested two Assam-based persons who were involved in this fraud. The accused have been identified as Najrul Ali and Midul Ali. Both are the residents Kamrup in Assam.
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Cybercrime Division V Neeraja said that a team from Police Station State Cyber Crime, Punjab headed by Inspector Jujhar Singh went to Assam last week and arrested both the accused persons from Kamrup district of Assam.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that during the investigation, information obtained regarding Banks accounts, WhatsApp accounts, and mobile numbers of the cyber fraudsters revealed that the gang has been running their operation from the remote districts of Assam
The DGP said that investigation has revealed the interstate linkages of the arrested accused in other cyber frauds as the bank account belonging to the arrested accused suggested their involvement in at least 11 other Cyber fraud cases spread across seven states in which around Rs 15 crores have been scammed from the victims.
Punjab police’s advisory on digital arrest:
• Do not panic if a call is received from anyone claiming to be from a Law enforcement agency alleging involvement in a crime.
• Report on sancharsaathi.gov.in to block the mobile number and report at the local Cyber Crime Police Station.
• Never share bank details or Aadhar card number with any caller.
• Do not answer questions asked by unknown callers.
• Report fraud calls and block the number on Chakshu portal of DoT on URL sancharsaathi.gov.in.