Bengaluru private firm employee held under ‘digital arrest’ loses ₹5.4 lakh

A 24-year-old employee of a private firm from Indiranagar here became the latest victim of a “digital arrest” where a gang posing as Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and Mumbai crime branch officials blackmailed her with a fake case and extorted ₹5.4 lakh which was part of the insurance money she had received after the death of her father.

The accused targeted the victim using Skype and WhatsApp calls, holding her “digitally arrested” for over 24 hours until she shared her bank details.

The gang managed to access her personal data and blackmailed her into performing humiliating acts, including dancing for them via video, while subjecting her to body shaming, said the police.

The amount, which had been part of the insurance settlement intended to help her family recover financially, was transferred online after threatening her with arrest and legal procedure.

The trauma caused by this ordeal has left the victim devastated, with the psychological toll of the abuse compounded by the emotional distress of losing a significant sum meant for her future security, said the police.

In her complaint, the victim said she received a call on Wednesday and the caller introduced himself as an officer with the TRAI. The caller informed her mobile number would get deactivated within two hours as they found other numbers in her name that were being used for illegal activities and a complaint had been filed with the Mumbai crime branch.

Before the victim could recover from the shock, she received a WhatsApp call from a man posing as a Mumbai police officer informing her that her Aadhaar card had been used to take multiple illegal bank accounts that are being used for money laundering and human trafficking.

The harassment continued as she was threatened with a forged CBI notice consenting to a confidentiality agreement not to reveal about the case with anyone otherwise she would be arrested or have to be in “self custody” until the inquiry is completed.

One of the accused who identified himself as Milind Bharambe, DCP, Mumbai crime branch, told her she was kept under constant surveillance and shared an RBI acknowledgement letter stating that they had approved the petition for “priority investigation and financial verification”. They forced the victim to transfer the money online to their account for “verification”, claiming that it would be reverted within 30 minutes.

“During this entire surveillance, there were instances where they harassed me with comments like, ‘Can you show me some moves?’ asking me if I can dance. There were comments made about my appearance in the middle of the surveillance,” she said.

The accused also allegedly accessed her messages and call records and made her share the screenshots with them.

The cybercrime police are now trying to track down the accused through the money transactions and the phone numbers they had used.

The police have requested people not to entertain such calls or unwanted demands from anyone. “We have created awareness on such incidents in print, electronic and social media, radio, and even in movie theatres warning people not to entertain unknown calls. But unfortunately, more and more educated and working-class people are becoming victims and losing their life savings,” a police officer said.

Published - September 28, 2024 08:16 pm IST