Cops busts digital arrest scam, say fraudsters posed as judges, officials

A man has been arrested from Gujarat for allegedly receiving a major portion of Rs 371 crore fraudulently taken from a 68yearold woman in Mumbai through a socalled digital arrest scam a police official said on Monday reported the PTIAccording to the police the cyber criminals impersonated personnel from the Colaba police station in south Mumbai officials from central agencies and even conducted a fake online court hearing During the video call one of the accused identified himself as Justice Chandrachud as per the PTIVictim told she was under digital arrestAccording to the PTI the victim a resident of Andheri West was told she was under digital arrest in connection with a money laundering case She was kept under constant surveillance by the fraudsters between August 18 and October 13 the official saidThe woman first received a call on August 18 from a person claiming to be from Colaba police station who alleged that her bank account had been used for laundering money She was warned not to disclose the matter to anyone and was asked to share her bank details on the pretext that the case was being transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI the PTI reportedOne of the accused posing as an officer named S K Jaiswal even made the woman write a twotothreepage essay about her life He later told her he was satisfied with her explanation and would ensure she got bailArranged video callThe fraudsters then arranged a video call in which the victim was presented before a person claiming to be Justice Chandrachud She was asked to submit details of her investments for verification following which she transferred Rs 375 crore to multiple bank accounts over nearly two monthsWhen the calls suddenly stopped the woman realised she had been cheated and approached the West Region Cyber Police Station A case was registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology ActThe investigation revealed that the money had been routed through several mule accounts including one traced to Surat in Gujarat A mule account is used to receive or transfer illegally obtained money often on behalf of criminalsCyber police team arrested a man from SuratA cyber police team arrested a man from Surat last week who had opened a current account in the name of a fake cloth trading company He allegedly allowed cyber fraudsters to use the account to park their fundsFor allowing Rs 171 crore to be routed through his account the accused reportedly received a commission of Rs 640 lakh He has disclosed the identities of two alleged masterminds of the racket both of whom are currently abroad One of them is said to run an immigration and visa services businessEfforts are underway to trace and arrest all those involved in the scam the official addedDigital arrest scams emergingDigital arrest scams are an emerging form of cybercrime in which fraudsters pose as law enforcement officers or court officials to intimidate victims through phone and video calls forcing them to transfer large sums of moneyOn December 1 the Supreme Court directed the CBI to conduct a nationwide investigation into digital arrest cases and asked all states to grant consent under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act for such probeswith PTI inputs