The Madhya Pradesh police on Sunday saved a businessman from being looted by cyber criminals who had put him under “digital arrest” in Bhopal, an official said.
Vivek Oberoi, a resident of Arera Colony in the city, received a call around 1 pm on Saturday from individuals posing as officials of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), an MP police cyber cell release said.
The scammers connected Oberoi to people who identified themselves as CBI and Mumbai crime branch officials, it stated.
They trapped Oberoi by claiming that several bogus bank accounts were opened using his Aadhaar, which they said was also used for purchasing SIM cards for unsolicited marketing, the release said.
“Digital arrest” is a type of online fraud where scammers impersonate law enforcement or government officials to convince victims that they are under arrest.
The cyber crooks told Oberoi to download the Skype video app and asked him to stay in a room. During that time, the businessman alerted the MP cyber police and cops reached his home amid his ‘digital arrest’.
When police demanded ID verification of the fake law-enforcement officials, the fraudsters disconnected the video call, the release said.
While the conmen had got the businessman’s bank details during his “digital arrest”, he didn’t transfer any money, the release added