A 90-year-old man in Surat, Gujarat, lost his entire lifetime savings of more than ₹1 crore to fraudsters posing as CBI officers in a sophisticated scam. The fraudsters had told him that some drugs were found in a parcel couriered in his name from Mumbai to China and put him under a fake ‘digital arrest’ for 15 days.
In fact, according to the Surat Crime Branch, five suspects in relation to the scheme have already been arrested, and supposedly it has a link to a gang operating out of China. However, the suspected operation mastermind, identified as Parth Gopani, remains at large with suspicion that he is presently in Cambodia.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bhavesh Rozia said that the elderly victim, a stock trader, had received a WhatsApp call from one of the fraudsters who introduced himself as a CBI officer. The accused told him that 400 grams of MD drugs were found in a parcel addressed to the senior citizen.
Besides the drug allegations, the fraudsters also claimed that his bank account details indicated involvement in money laundering and that they would arrest him on those grounds and take action against his family if he did not cooperate.
Under the guise of an interrogation, the elderly man was subjected to a ‘digital arrest’ for 15 days, during which he was questioned about his bank transactions. During this time, the scammers managed to siphon off ₹1.15 crore from his account.
After the girl approached her family about this incident, it was reported to Surat Cyber Cell on October 29. After conducting a primary investigation, police arrested the five suspects while searching for Gopani. A sketch of the suspect was provided by the police for tracing the accused.
The police recovered a sizable cache of evidence from the arrested suspects: 46 debit cards of different banks, 23 cheque books, one vehicle, rubber stamps of four firms, nine mobile phones and 28 SIM cards.
Cyber law expert Pawan Duggal said that ‘digital arrest’ actually means to instill a sense of fear and panic amongst people and extract money on the basis of that. There is a greater need to create awareness among the public about such scams.
Despite advisories warning that ‘digital arrests’ have no legal basis in India, many continue to fall prey, sustaining substantial financial losses. Recently, the central government issued a warning about widespread cyber scams threatening victims with ‘digital arrest’ if they did not comply.
In a recent episode of his radio program Mann Ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned the citizens against such frauds: “Beware of digital arrest frauds. There is no system like digital arrest under the law. No government agency will ever contact you via phone or video call for such an investigation.”
