Mumbai: A 26-year-old woman in Mumbai has become the latest victim of digital arrest after scamsters cheated her out of ₹ 1.7 lakh alongside forcing her to strip during a video call, NDTV reported citing police.
The scamsters who called her on November 19 introduced themselves as Delhi Police officers and said that her name was involved in a money laundering case linked to Naresh Goyal, the founder-chairman of Jet Airways, who is currently in jail, according to her complaint.
The woman, who lives in Borivali East and works with a pharmaceutical company, reportedly said in the complaint that the scamsters subsequently threatened her with arrest.
Moving the conversation on to video call, they told her that she was under 'digital arrest' and asked her to book a hotel room to continue the questioning.
As she checked in to a hotel, they asked her to transfer ₹ 1,78,000 to verify her bank account details and coerced her to strip saying it was part of a body verification.
Having transferred the money and followed their instructions, the woman realized that she was conned and filed a complaint with the police on November 28.
It is reported that a case has been registered under relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhit and the Information Technology Act.
In another incident, Fraudsters earlier mentioned Naresh Goyal's name during the ‘digital arrest’ of Shri Paul Oswal, chairman and managing director of textile giant Vardhman Group.
It is reported that the fraudsters cheated the octogenarian out of Rs 7 crore.
'Digital arrest' is a widely reported new kind of cheating where fraudsters contact unsuspecting victims over phone and threaten that they were under arrest and demand money.
Police have issued several advisories asking people to be vigilant about such phone calls.