“Digital arrest” is the newest trend in cybercrime, and cybercriminals are at their most creative when it comes to escaping victims. Following the recent arrest by the Hyderabad police of eighteen cybercriminals from Rajasthan, ten cybercrimes with losses ranging from Rs 1.1 lakh to Rs 2.9 crore were discovered.
The scammers’ preferred tactic was digital arrest, and they specifically targeted senior individuals, homemakers, and software engineers.
Cybercrime DCP D. Kavitha of Hyderabad stated that the scammers targeted senior citizens in particular and that their main method of operation was digital arrest. “With the help of just an Aadhaar card or a phone number, the fraudsters will access the name, date of birth, number of email accounts and bank accounts, and the victims. The fraudsters were well aware that they could easily threaten senior citizens and squeeze them for a lot of money. They threaten them in the name of arrest by posing as high-ranking police officials,” she explained.
She described the predicament of an elderly person who spent two days in his own home under virtual imprisonment. “In one of the cases, a retired employee was digitally arrested. He was virtually under the control of the fraudsters for two full days even though he was in his house. The retired employee was scared to inform his wife or children about his condition since the fraudsters warned him that they too would be arrested. It has gone to an extent where he was intimidated to report for every three hours on his activities. The fraudsters found that they could easily threaten these people and squeeze as much money as possible through this medium.”
Approximately ten complaints filed between December 2023 and August 2024 came to light following the arrest of eighteen scammers from Rajasthan. Police discovered during the course of these cases’ investigations that the accused had engaged in a variety of fraudulent activities, including sextortion, OTP fraud, and stock market investments for improved returns. Sanjay Biman Das, Shaiukul Khan Mewati, and Kapil Bhausaheb Nagare were named as the three principal defendants. Furthermore, they were the frauds’ ultimate beneficiaries.
Even though these cybercriminals were extorting large sums of money from their victims, the people were only able to seize Rs 5 lakh in cash. The remaining funds have been utilised to support their opulent lifestyle and travels to Dubai and other nations.
One officer mentioned, “These accused used up 70 per cent of the extorted money and have invested in setting up another call centre and hiring callers to commit another scam after their release. The accused also pay commissions to the suppliers and purchase bank accounts from illiterate persons by paying them Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per account.”
In the meantime, the police had the authority to seize Rs 1.61 crore from the accused’s bank accounts in ten cases. The transaction’s trail has not yet been located. Hyderabad city police have dispatched multiple squads to Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Maharashtra in an attempt to apprehend these con artists.
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