In a fake money laundering case, cyber criminals in Hyderabad put a 44-year-old IT employee under "digital arrest" for over 30 hours. Fortunately, with the assistance of the police, the employee was able to flee the scammers without suffering any financial losses.
The victim's nightmare began early on October 26 and lasted till October 27. The scammers pretended to be Mumbai police officers and used an instant messaging software to make audio and video calls to him, telling him not to end the contact, police said on Monday.
They threatened to arrest him in the money laundering case and wanted Rs 40 lakh to dismiss it.
Only after the cybercriminals' call was discontinued on October 27 in the morning did the victim notify the Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police Station, who notified him that it was a scam.
The victim informed the police that he ignored text messages he got on the evening of October 25, stating that his Aadhar number and cell phone number had been discovered to be connected to a money laundering case that had been filed in Mumbai.
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However, scammers posing as Mumbai police officers made voice and video calls to him on October 26 at 3 AM, threatening to arrest him in a money laundering case involving many crores.
They told him to stay on the phone with them as part of the verification process and not tell anybody about it, including his family, before going into a room in his home. They also provided him fake paperwork, such as a FIR, a warrant issued against him, and a petition filed in court against him, which worried him.
The scammers then assured him that they would "resolve" the problem by having his name "cleared" and requested him to pay a fee for it. They then inquired about the money in his bank accounts, to which he stated that he had a total of Rs 25 lakhs in fixed deposits and savings accounts.
After obtaining information on the amount in his bank accounts, the fraudsters instructed him to leave his residence and stay in a hotel/lodge, warning that the police would find him and take him up.
Following this, on October 26, the victim left his house in Miyapur and traveled 15 kilometres to Ameerpet on his two-wheeler, where he booked into a lodge room. The victim informed the police that the fraudsters would not allow him to discontinue phone contact with them while he was driving and were constantly watching him.
They led him to believe that the "verification process" would go until Monday (October 28), following which he could make an RTGS payment to be "released". As the call with the scammers was disconnected at about 4 AM on October 27, the victim contacted the Cyber Crime Police for assistance.
After being informed of the situation, policeman M Ganesh, who received the call, advised him that it was a hoax and that he had nothing to fear. The cop then got his neighbour's phone number and requested him to come to the lodge.
The constable stated that he spoke with the victim for an hour on his own phone in order to prevent him from taking any drastic measures and that he advised him to block the fraudsters' phone numbers since they continued to ring him after their conversation was terminated. This prevented him from falling victim to the scammers, according to the policeman, who added that the victim's neighbour arrived to the lodge and picked him up.