Scams spare nobody, an IIT student gets duped of 7 Lakh rupees

A 25-year-old man received a call from an unknown number in July this year, with the caller claiming to be an employee of the TRAI. The caller informed him that 17 complaints of illegal activities had been filed against his mobile number, according to an official from the Powai police station in Mumbai.

The caller stated that to prevent his number from being deactivated, the victim needed to obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the police and claimed he was transferring the
call to the Cyber Crime Branch. The victim was then shown a WhatsApp video call, where a man dressed as a police officer demanded his Aadhaar number and accused him of being involved in money laundering. The fraudster pressured the victim into transferring ₹29,500
through the unified payments interface (UPI), the official added.

The scammer then threatened the victim, claiming he was under "digital arrest" and prohibited from contacting anyone. The following day, the scammers called again, demanding more money. This time, the victim provided his bank account details, which allowed the fraudsters to withdraw ₹7 lakh from his account. After receiving the money, the accused reassured him that he was safe and would not be arrested, the police said.

Realizing he had been scammed after researching "digital arrest" online, the victim approached the police and filed a complaint against the unknown offenders, the
official reported.