Noida doctor duped of over Rs 59 lakh in ‘digital arrest’, told she circulated porn

“She was pressured by the fraudsters. After the fraudsters told Dr Goel that her number had been used in the circulation of obscene videos she got pressured. Then they told her she would have to prove that she was not involved in any money laundering case and kept her in digital arrest for two days,” said Vivek Ranjan Rai, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Cyber, Noida.

“We have frozen the accounts as of now and are investigating the case further,” he said.

On July 13, Dr Goel said she received a call from the fraudsters posing as TRAI officials. The fraudsters said there was an arrest warrant against her in connection with the circulation of porn videos, and her involvement in a money laundering case in the National Security Act (NSA). The woman was threatened with her daughter’s abduction and was asked to deposit money in a bank account provided by them.

Dr Goel also said the fraudsters forced her to be on video calls on WhatsApp for two days while she transferred Rs 59.54 lakh from her State Bank of India (SBI) account to different accounts assigned by the fraudsters.

There has been a rise in reports of “digital arrests” by cybercriminals posing as law enforcement officers, where victims are “digitally arrested”, and forced to stay visible over video conferencing platforms until their demands are met.