Pahalgam one year later: How cyber fraudsters ‘weaponised’ public fear to target victims in digital arrest scams

“Cyber fraudsters always exploit fear and the effects of certain developments on the minds of people. Even today, fraudsters continue to use pretexts of drugs found in parcels, bank accounts linked to well-known money laundering cases. Even prior to the Pahalgam attack, cyber fraudsters have used the pretext of ‘the victim’s links to terror outfits’. But after the Pahalgam attack, cyber fraudsters exploited the public trauma as a psychological tool to manipulate victims. By invoking threats of arrest, national security violations and alleged links to terror outfits, they create an atmosphere of panic and urgency, leaving little room for victims to pause or verify the claims. The overall script of the digital arrest scam remains the same,” said a cyber investigator from Pune city police.

In the case of the 70-year-old businessman defrauded of Rs 1.44 crore, a fraudster wearing a police uniform told the victim he was linked to the Pahalgam terrorists. Then, a fraudster posing as the ‘NIA chief’ spoke to the complainant over video call and assured that he would remove the complainant’s name from their list of suspects by giving him a ‘Non Involvement Certificate (NIC)’. The fraudster asked the complainant to transfer all his savings and deposits to ‘government accounts’, which were in fact mule accounts.

“Across these scams, fraudsters construct convincing and credible-sounding allegations to trap victims. They claim that a bank account or phone number registered in the victim’s name has been flagged in serious criminal activity — in this case terror attack. Having caused panic, the callers then position themselves as the only people who can save the victims, offering them a chance to clear their name. It is at this point that they demand money under the pretext of verification or legal processing, effectively turning fear into a tool for extortion. Fraudsters do not just impersonate authority, they also manufacture an emotional environment,” said another officer.

In a case registered in November last year, posing as the then NIA chief Sadanand Date and threatening arrest for ‘sharing photos of weapons used in Pahalgam terror attack’, a 57-year-old woman from Pune was defrauded of Rs 51 lakh by cyber fraudsters in a digital arrest scam. The victim initially received a video call from a fraudster posing as the ‘ATS chief’. As the complainant denied having shared any such photos, the caller told her that a phone number registered in her name was used to do so. This caller then sent the complainant fake documents titled ‘confidentiality agreement, arrest warrant, asset seizure order, magistrate order’. He then told her that the ‘NIA chief’ will interrogate her. The fraudster posing as the ‘NIA chief’ extorted money from her on the pretext of clearing her name by way of ‘fund legalisation’.

Fraudsters used the ‘Pahalgam terror link’ pretext to defraud a 74-year-old retired government employee of Rs 17 lakh in July last year and an 85-year-old of Rs 97 lakh earlier this year.