Digital arrest scam: Alert SBI staff saves senior citizen in Hyderabad from ₹13 lakh fraud

An incident in Hyderabad has come to light where vigilant employees at a State Bank of India (SBI) branch saved a senior citizen from being conned ₹13 lakh in a scam involving a so-called ‘digital arrest’.

According to a report by NDTV, fraudsters targeted a 61-year-old child specialist by telling him that he was under digital arrest and must not tell anyone about it.

The senior citizen went to the SBI branch and told a bank staffer that he wanted to break fixed deposits to withdraw the money, the report said.

After noticing the tense face of the senior citizen, the staffer took him to the branch manager Kumar Gaud. The senior citizen told the manager he was planning to buy a property.

“When asked where he was buying the property, the customer said he had not decided yet. This made us more suspicious,” a bank employee told NDTV.

After this, he was told to return with a family member.

“We denied to transfer the money for three days,” an employee said, as per the report.

On his third visit, the bank connected him to 1930, the national helpline for reporting cybercrime, where he was told that there was nothing called ‘digital arrest’.

After talking on the cyber helpline, he breathed a sigh of relief and became convinced that he was on the verge of losing money.

Later, he told the bank staff that during his visits to the branch, he was on a call with the scamster.

Digital Arrest Case in Noida

Recently, a Noida-based woman was duped of ₹34 lakh in a case of “digital arrest” by cyber criminals who threatened her with fake notices by the Enforcement Directorate.

The fraudsters claimed that a parcel was being sent from Mumbai to Iran in her name containing five passports, two debit cards, two laptops, 900 US dollars and 200 grams of narcotics, police said.

According to Nidhi Paliwal's complaint, the fraudsters sent her a complaint via WhatsApp and asked her to send ₹34 lakh.

Paliwal said in her complaint that an accused also video-called her on Skype with the video switched off.

What is a 'Digital Arrest' scam?

‘Digital arrest’ is a kind of fraud in which scamsters tell their target he/she is under ‘digital’ arrest and must remain connected to them through a video or audio call.

They also tell their target not to reveal details about it.