You have become ‘digitally arrested’… Now Indians will not fall into the trap of international spoof calls, what is the government’s plan?

New Delhi: The Indian government is preparing to curb those fake calls coming from foreign numbers in which people pretending to be officers of CBI, NCB or any other government department and threatening ‘digital arrest’. These callers are actually trying to extort money from people. The Indian Cyber ​​Crime Coordination Center (I4C) is working closely with Microsoft to help catch these fraudsters. Till now, thousands of fake Skype accounts have been closed which were used by these fraudsters to give confidence to government departments.

How do swindlers fall into the trap?

These fraudsters adopt many methods to extort money. These may ask for international bank transfer, purchase of gold, cryptocurrency or withdrawal from ATM. If you receive such a call, you can go to the government’s cyber crime website and lodge a complaint against that number, WhatsApp account or the URL of the website. You can also check suspicious numbers with the information available there. The Indian Cyber ​​Crime Coordination Center (I4C) and the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) are working together to stop fake calls coming from abroad. These fraudsters call you posing as officers of any law enforcement agency like NCB or CBI and say that you have been ‘digitally arrested’. On the other hand, I4C in collaboration with Microsoft is helping foreign fraudsters extort money from Indians. Efforts are being made to prevent misuse of logos of government departments.

What do the officers say?

According to Rajesh Kumar, CEO of I4C, several cases have come to light where the caller pretending to be an officer of the police or any other agency threatens digital arrest and then demands money. Kumar further said, ‘The thug calls from an Indian number and talks to the victim. By using call spoofing, they pretend to be officials of CBI, RBI, NIA or banks. Methods of extorting money during digital arrest include international fund transfer, gold, cryptocurrency and withdrawing money from ATMs. Kumar also appealed to people to report fraudulent phone numbers, WhatsApp accounts or URLs to the cyber crime website ‘Suspicious Data’. Additionally, phone numbers can also be checked against ‘suspicious storage data’ available on the website.

Home Ministry’s advisory on ‘digital arrest’

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had last week issued an advisory on ‘digital arrests’ detailing how these fraudsters use studios that mimic police stations and government offices and wear uniforms to look real. They call the potential victim and tell him/her that he/she has either sent or is about to receive a parcel of illegal goods, drugs, fake passport or any other contraband. Sometimes, they also say that someone close to the victim has been found involved in a crime or has been in an accident and has been detained. People who are trapped by these fraudsters are forced to pay money to settle the case. In some cases, gullible victims face digital arrest and are forced to remain online on Skype or any other video conferencing platform until their demands are met. It is an organized online economic crime and is operated by cross-border crime syndicates. The Home Ministry also informed that I4C is also helping in blocking SIM cards, mobile devices and fake accounts used by such fraudsters.