First Case Of Digital Arrest In Himachal Pradesh: Retired HAS officer duped of Rs 73 lakh by fraudsters

Hamirpur (Himachal Pradesh): The first case of digital arrest has come to light in Himachal Pradesh. Fraudsters targeted a retired HAS officer of Himachal Pradesh, kept him under house arrest, and stole Rs 73 lakh from his accounts. The fraudsters carried out the fraud by posing as CBI officers. Online fraudsters kept the retired HAS.

Hamirpur (Himachal Pradesh): The first case of digital arrest has come to light in Himachal Pradesh. Fraudsters targeted a retired HAS officer of Himachal Pradesh, kept him under house arrest, and stole Rs 73 lakh from his accounts.

The fraudsters carried out the fraud by posing as CBI officers. Online fraudsters kept the retired HAS officer under digital arrest for several hours in his house. The police have registered a case and started investigation.

Fear of being associated with terrorists

According to the police, the fraudsters told the retired officer that his bank account was being used for terrorist activities in Hyderabad. On hearing about terrorist activities, the officer got scared and kept getting trapped in the trap of online fraudsters. He was instructed not to discuss it with anyone by calling it a matter of national security.

The retired IAS officer received a call from an unknown number on September 4th. The caller claimed to be a CBI officer and said that the Supreme Court had issued a 12-hour digital arrest warrant against him. The retired officer was then kept under surveillance for 12 hours through a video call.

During this time, he was made to pretend to talk to senior CBI officials, and many people conversed with him through video conference. As a result, the fraudsters managed to deceive him of Rs 73 lakh. The officer transferred this amount between September 4th and 12th and also deposited money in the accounts of his family members as instructed by the fraudsters.

The fraudsters assured the officer that the amount would be returned to his account within three days. However, after September 12th, they began threatening to investigate his property. This made the officer suspicious, prompting him to contact the Cyber Crime Police Station Mandi Range.
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Digital Arrest : How Fear Turns Phone Calls into Fraud