63-year-old loses ₹1.19 cr under ‘digital arrest’ in Noida

A retired government official in Noida was duped of ₹1.19 crore after being put under “digital arrest” for four days by cyber frauds, posing as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials probing a chit fund fraud of ₹300 crore, said Noida police officers on Friday.

According to Vijay Kumar Gautam, station house officer (SHO), cybercrime branch, the victim, Rakesh Sinha, aged 63, resides at a high-rise in Noida’s Sector 70.

“On September 11, he received a call from an unidentified number. The caller identified himself as a bank employee and informed him that ₹1.9 lakh is due in his credit card issued in Mumbai,” the officer said, citing Sinha’s police complaint.

“When Sinha denied having anything to do with the credit card, the suspect transferred his call to ‘Mumbai Police’ to file an online FIR, and told Sinha that the issue will be closed after that,” said Gautam.

Sinha was later told that his Aadhaar was misused in a ₹2.56 crore fraud linked to a bank.

He was informed over a phone call that “the CBI is investigating this caseand so the call was again transferred to some one posing as a CBI officer.

“When I spoke to a CBI official, he said ₹300 crore has been taken out from the bank, and more than 300 people have been cheated through a chit fund scam, and that my ID has been misused,” the FIR said.

The suspect told Sinha to cooperate with them and his name would be dropped and “Everything is under examination by the Supreme Court of India”.

He was allowed to perform his personal tasks during the digital arrest.

“Sinha was asked to declare his financial status, and on the pretext of tracking a digital code to nab the real culprit, they made him transfer ₹1.19 crore in three instalments,” the SHO said.

“He was put under digital arrest from September 11 to 14. When Sinha did not receive any clearance, he began to realise that he was duped,” the officer said.

A case under sections 308(2) (extortion), 319(2) (cheating by personation), and 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and IT Act was registered at the cybercrime branch police station on Wednesday, and a probe is underway.

Police said that the cases of digital arrest are on the rise. Before answering any calls and exchanging conversation with any person posing as a police officer, inform the local police station.

The National Cybercrime Reporting Portal and cyber helpline number 1930 are available to report the incident, said police.