The Web Of 'Digital Arrest'! Fake Police Officers At Your Door? How To Protect Your Money From These Scams

In recent times, technology has given birth to the unimaginable. While technology is propelling growth in business, science, money, and in general overall livelihood, the other side of the coin is more nerve-wracking, dark, complex and petrifying, because technology for sure has weaved smarter and unique crimes as well.

That being said, a new form of cybercrime is trending these days, which has left citizens of India baffled, dumb-founded and distraught. It is called the 'Digital Arrest'. Oneindia and GoodReturns investigate many types of digital crimes to create awareness among citizens.

Fear And Confusion:

Imagine being called by a law enforcement officer from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or by a police officer, accusing you of money laundering and scaring you with arrest warrants and court hearings. These scammers make you believe that you did something wrong and you must pay to protect yourself from such situations. By the time you realise about the lies, deceit and cheating, you have already fallen prey and lost your hard-earned money.

In many cases, crores of wealth of innocent civilians have succumbed to these types of cyberbullying. Such was the case of S.P. Oswal, the chairman of Vardhman Group who was targeted by such frauds, posing as officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). These fake officers went as far as staging a very convincing fake Supreme Court hearing, which pressured Oswal to transfer them a sum of Rs 7 crore to safeguard himself from the entire draining process. Oswal realised the malicious and planned scam after two days, however, by that time it was too late. Trapped in fear and confusion, he ended up losing a lot of money.

These scammers did not just target businessmen or women but even targeted salaried individuals like Dr. Ruchika Tandon, a professor in Lucknow. Ruchika was tricked by imposters who claimed to be Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) officials. They created similar fear and confusion, blaming Ruchika for being involved in illegal activities and forcing her to make rash and fearful decisions. She transferred about Rs 2.81 crore to these scammers. Ruchika realised she was a victim of cyber fraud only after authorities informed her about the scam being exposed. But her money was gone!

Even residents are not spared. Vijay, a resident of Rajkot, Gujarat, was also tricked by scammers pretending to be TRAI officials. These fraudsters told him he was involved in a series of harassment and financial wrongdoing. To clear his name, these scammers left Vijay with only two options either to fly and report to a police station in Uttar Pradesh within 12 hours or submit a statement through a WhatsApp video call.

Opting for the latter, Vijay was demanded to reveal sensitive information like his personal identity details, bank account numbers, and much more. However, Vijay did grow suspicious and avoided the trap of online banking, by saying that he conducted all his transactions via cash.

But situations only worsened for Vijay, when a fraudster acting as Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), threatened him to transfer money to a specific bank account. Unaware of the fraud, Vijay did not give up, instead challenged them by pointing out the issue of corruption and the potential for complicity within the department.

The Digital Arrest is not just the only problem in the system.

There are loan frauds committed almost on a daily basis. There are fraud companies that launched their easy money-lending apps on Google Store and Apple Store.

Innocent citizens are fooled by easy access to urgent cash, and the irony of all of this, is that these individuals only have to submit details that give these scammers access to all the contacts on their mobile phones. When the due date arrives, you're directed to pay at a random account, and then they later blame you for not paying the due amount. And just like that the cycle of mental torture begins when these scammers threaten to expose you with an inappropriate picture of yourself or messages to everyone in your contact list. Scared of being embarrassed or shamed, you end up paying more than you received from the application. Sometimes, they do not leave even when you have cleared the dues or paid more amount.

Sometimes, despite not applying for a loan, several citizens receive a notification of a lump sum amount being credited to their bank account. Moments later, you receive calls from scammers pretending to be bank representatives, informing you about the sanction of a loan and instructing the money back. But in reality, you never applied for such loans.

If that is not enough, sometimes these scammers call you, saying they're from credit card companies, and you have outstanding dues of a certain sum. If the amount is not paid, your credit score will be impacted which will make it difficult for you to avail of urgent loans in times of requirement ahead. Panic-driven, many people fall prey to the fraud.

In the financial year 2023, India recorded up to Rs 30,000 crore losses owing to cyber fraud. This only heightened when in four months of 2024, over 740,000 complaints were filed and about Rs 1,750 crore losses were reported.

These scams raise many questions about the due diligence followed by banks to protect their customers' money.

RBI's Directions To Banks:

As per RBI guidelines, it should be realized that managing cyber risk requires the commitment of the entire organization to create a cyber-safe environment. This will require a high level of awareness among staff at all levels. Top Management and Board should also have a fair degree of awareness of the fine nuances of the threats and appropriate familiarisation may be organized.

The central bank has directed banks to proactively promote, among their customers, vendors, service providers and other relevant stakeholders an understanding of the bank's cyber resilience objectives, and require and ensure appropriate action to support their synchronised implementation and testing.

It is well recognised that stakeholders (including customers, employees, partners and vendors) awareness about the potential impact of cyber-attacks helps in the cyber-security preparedness of banks, the central bank's guidelines notified.

How To Protect Yourself And You Hard-Earned Money:

Meanwhile, as a customer, you can follow a few quick and easy steps to always protect your bank account and personal details. Some of these are:

Firstly, always be careful of what you are clicking. Some of the favourite ways by scammers is through phishing emails and texts. Never open or click the links attached to these messages or emails, as they tend to be a gateway for scammers to hack your system, and get information on bank accounts and other personal details. If any case, you feel the need to address the messages, always visit your bank's website or branch, or call customer care, to get the information.

Secondly, ensure to keep your crucial data like bank account numbers, internet banking passwords, email passwords, and much more, with a strong password. Usually, a mixture of numbers, letters, and special characters is advisable, including the addition of a small and lower case. Also, keep a password that cannot be easily guessed such as avoiding keeping your name, your number, your pet's name, your birth date, or even friends, family or relatives' name. Keep the passwords that are unrelated to you, but you can remember them.

Thirdly, keep a multifactor authentication (MFA) for your financial account or email address especially when you're opening your email on a new computer or system. Fourthly, browse your searches safely. Additionally avoid cybercrime by public wireless networks and hotspots such as trains, hotels, and airports among others as they are prone to hacks faster than private wireless networks.

Lastly, in situations like being called by someone pretending to be a police officer or other law enforcement personnel, who is demanding from you reveal your vital details and even asking for a transfer of money. First and foremost do not panic, stay calm and visit your bank or visit the law enforcement's main offices and complain about the threats.

Stay tuned for the unravelling of more such cases by Oneindia and GoodReturns. This is part of the OneIndia series to reveal such cases, and to explore practical steps that you can take to protect yourself from falling victim to cybercrime.