Digi Arrest fear grips the nation

It’s time everyone steers clear from the ‘Digi Arrest’ fear. Suddenly ‘digi arrest’ has become the talk of the town. Many people have reportedly been scammed out of millions of rupees by impersonators and fraudsters who reach out to their victims via video calls, under the façade of a police or tax official. The scammers force their victims to stand in one place, ‘freezing’ their position under the false pretext of ‘Digitally Arresting’ them. The ‘digital arrest’ quagmire has become so deep and messy that recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi cautioned people against ‘Digital Arrests’ via his Mann Ki Baat radio address. The PM said: “No government agency will ever contact you via phone or video call for such an investigation.”

Digi Arrest Fear

“A digital arrest is a scam where someone pretends to belong to some police or government agency solely to scare you and have your personal details shelled out along with a huge amount to be paid,” explains Himanshu Yadav, Cyber Security expert, content creator & Founder at Hackindtech. He shares how recently in India, a group of scammers posed as CBI officers and made video calls to individuals, levelling charges of illegal activities against them. They even try arbitrating the matter by asking the victims to do a “settlement” to avoid arrest. The ‘settlement’ means paying a ‘fat amount’ to the fake CBI or income tax officials.

Abhishek Parashar, Cyber-crime Investigator & Founder of Indian Cyber Club says, “At times after the victim is digitally arrested, the fraudsters may even threaten to freeze bank accounts along with other social media handles or any internet-based transaction account until the victim agrees to pay the demand put forth.” The ‘settlement payments’ are usually accepted via untraceable means. “Untraceable means such as gift cards bearing arbitrary amounts of money, bitcoins or wire transfers are usually preferred options by such fraudsters,” says Abhishek.

Exponential Rise

While these scammers appear on screens with a dummy setup of police stations, tax offices or any government agency, they also don ‘copycat’ uniforms of policemen while targeting their victims. PM Modi expressed concerns stating that in the first quarter of 2024 alone, Indians had lost a whopping Rs 120 crore to such scams. Himanshu says it is easier to pull off scams now because most people have shifted to online spaces for financial transactions. Scammers just have to tap in the right codes to have a bite of one’s personal information or number.

A common tactic is call-spoofing. Himanshu adds, “Scammers increasingly use call spoofing to change the caller ID that appears on the receiver’s phone under the pretence that the number calling the other is a legitimate government number.” He opines that such tactics help them ‘appear to be’ more credible. However, these very tactics complicate things for victims who feel threatened and cannot distinguish between officials and scammers.

Victims on Checklist

Scammers are quite mindful of certain groups who perhaps, appear to be more susceptible or simply, fit the bill. Mukesh Kumar Rao, Cyber & Cloud security specialist cautions, “These scammers often target senior citizens, government employees, believing them to have substantial financial resources along with some inclination towards avoiding any legal hurdles.” He affirmingly adds, “They may also exploit social media profiles to first find victims for their personal details that can later be used over their victims for psychological manipulation.” While retired officials are often a hot spot, others too, need to be wary. “Older people, students or even immigrants are common targets because they would be less likely to be in a position to take action against such perpetrators,” says Himanshu.

Caution Over Regret

The first word of caution: Stay Calm! Prachi Chauhan, Digital Forensics Expert, at Indian Cyber Club says, “There is no reason to rush into such things as no genuine police or government official would ask you to pay fines via gift cards or online modes right away.” Look out for warning signs (red flags). The very mention of cryptocurrency payments or gift cards should be viewed with suspicion. Make sure of the organisation's website or contact details being forged by the scammer.

Abhishek adds, “Sadly, we Indians tend to be fearful ‘by default’ on hearing any mention of police officials or legal procedures for that matter.” This lack of awareness about existing laws, too, acts as a stepping stone for scammers to feed on the fear of victims. Given the exponential rise in these cases, caution and prevention need to be on everyone’s checklist.