A woman allegedly lost ₹2 lakh in six hours during which she was kept under “digital house arrest” by imposters posing as CBI officials, police said on Saturday.
The accused forced her to transfer money by claiming that her husband, an employee of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), had been arrested in a rape case and that they would make the case public if she did not pay the money, it was said.
The three fraudsters – Raju Ray (29), Guddu Kumar Sharma (29) and Pappu Kumar (22) – all residents of Bihar, have been arrested, they added.
The incident occurred last week in northeast Delhi and the victim’s husband approached the police.
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“A complaint was received from an NDMC employee that his wife received a call from an unknown number and the callers introduced themselves as officers of the CBI Crime Branch,” said Joy Tirkey, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast).
“They informed her about her husband’s arrest in a rape case and demanded ₹2 lakh for his release and threatened to make his arrest public and tarnish their image among relatives and friends if he did not pay,” Tirkey said.
Manipulated by the trio, the woman allegedly transferred the required amount to two bank accounts specified by the fraudsters, but they did not allow her to end the call for about six hours, the DCP said.
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Accordingly, a case was registered against the accused and based on intelligence inputs and technical surveillance, raids were conducted in different parts of Bihar and the trio were nabbed, the official said.
Tirkey added that the involvement of those arrested in other cases was being investigated and efforts were being made to apprehend their remaining accomplices.
What is digital house arrest?
In “digital house arrest,” cybercriminals lock victims in their homes to defraud them. Perpetrators instill fear by making audio or video calls, often posing as police officers using AI-generated voices or video technology.
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