Noida Police have apprehended three people accused of duping a retired Commerce Secretary official of Rs 1.70 crore through a “digital arrest” scam. The victim, an 80-year-old, was trapped in the fraud for three days. Police said their Cyber Crime unit has successfully frozen the amount collected by the scammers.
Digital arrest scam: What has happened?
It all began on September 9 when the scammers made a call to Omprakash Srivastava, alleging that his phone number was being misused for harassment and that a case had already been registered against him.
Later on, they threatened Srivastava with a fake money laundering case linked to Jet Airways co-founder Naresh Goyal. To make things look genuine, they posed as CBI officials and police officers on a video call.
The victim was connected to one individual posing as a Mumbai Police officer, followed by a man impersonating IPS officer Vijay Khanna, who introduced himself as the lead investigator in the matter.
They even sent him a forged document that appeared to show his Aadhaar and bank details linked to a Rs 25 lakh transaction. He was told he faced immediate arrest unless he complied. They even staged a video call with someone pretending to be a judge, while warning him not to disclose the matter to his family.
The scammers directed Srivastava to move all his savings into two bank accounts, claiming it was for “verification”. They assured him that the funds would be returned within 72 hours.
Noida Police arrest three people
After Srivastava filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime Police Station on September 16, police tracked down and arrested three suspects, Prince Kumar, Avnish Kumar, and Vidyasagar Yadav, all residents of Bihar, on Thursday evening.
Investigators revealed that this was not an isolated incident. Six additional complaints have been filed against the same individuals in different states. The defrauded money was deposited into accounts controlled by the accused. Police are continuing their search for others connected to the racket.