Digital Arrests - Online Scam Through Skype Rising In India: Report (image: Pixabay)
“Digital arrests” is the name of new and trending cyber threat in India. According to the News 18“s exclusive report, in this fraudulent practice, cyber criminals pose as government officials over a video call on Skype in order to force victims to transfer money. An official from Union Government says that an astonishing number of 2000 complaints have been collected concerning the fraud in the last year alone.
In this online scam, defrauder subject the victims to a “digital arrest” where it demands virtual restraint which extend the latter to stay in the video call and partake in conversation with fake government officials. As per the News 18 reports, Mumbai Police, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) – are the names of three organisations used by the criminals so far. To further their reliability and substantiate their claims, these fraudsters shows fabricated ID cards and reference the names and ranks of actual officers, besides appearances and conversations. The victims undergoes financial loss and emotional distress as well.
“Victims are blackmailed and made to sit in front of fake government officials for hours, leading to devastating financial and emotional harm. The cybercriminals impersonate cops or top officials, also show their ID card, and take names of actual officers with real ranks so that even if someone tries to Google the information given by them, they believe that arrest process is real,” News 18 reports as a top official of a central cyber security agency is saying.
In the recent incident, defrauders contacted victims through IVR calls and conveyed that their IDs including PAN number, Aadhaar have been used in frauds or that SIM cards involved in a crime are linked to their Aadhaar number. They even go to the extent of presenting fake warrant issued from courts. Mostly coercers force to pay money, sometimes they compel the victims to take instant loan to pay the ransom. But in reality, such virtual arrests does not possess any legal validation.
Since this is a new menace, CBI, RBI and Mumbai Police are urged to file cases and begin the probe. The severity of the situation prompted the Centre to block 90 per cent of the 235 identified fraudulent Skype accounts. It has been reported that this well-organised online scam is found to be operated by cross-border criminal syndicates.
The Centre has also said that the department concerned may initiate legal action against the Skype IDs that are impersonating Reserve Bank of India, Maharashtra Police, and Narcotics Department, maligning/harming the reputation of the organisation and committing fraud, News 18 adds.
