With each passing day, more and more cases of digital arrest fraud are coming to light. (File Photo)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed my mann ki baat in the latest episode of his monthly radio programme. In his address to the nation, he cautioned citizens against rising “digital arrest” frauds, in which scamsters posing as law enforcement officers call up people and threaten them of arrest to extract money. Indians cumulatively lost Rs 120.3 crore in the first quarter of 2024 to digital arrest frauds, according to data from the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal. Everyone’s vulnerable to this scam, even textile baron SP Oswal, chairman and MD of Vardhman Group, who was defrauded of Rs 7 crore in an elaborate fraud, which even involved a fake online Supreme Court hearing.
In September, I lost Rs 10,000 to a digital arrest fraud — a measly sum, compared to the lakhs and crores that people lose to such frauds. Even the police said, “Milna mushkil hai”. I get it, they have bigger fish to catch. The accused used a run-off-the-mill modus operandi — my Aadhar number is being misused to perform illegal activities such as extortion and money laundering, yada yada. Over the three-hour ordeal, there were several levels to establish legitimacy — a call from the “Telecom Ministry” informing me of my Aadhaar being misused, a transfer to the “Mumbai Crime Branch” through an IVR call, a “walkie-talkie voice” from the control room informing the officers that my Aadhaar is in the “emergency zone”.
Yet, a month later, I remain incredulous and embarrassed. How could this have happened to me, a 33-year-old digital native journalist? I had foiled a previous attempt at an OLX scam, of the kind that was in vogue a few years ago. Surely I should have been able to sniff out a scam from a mile away. Admittedly, my lack of heed towards the several news reports of digital arrest fraud that were doing the rounds made me vulnerable to the scam. Cybercrimes are a dime a dozen and one can get exhausted keeping up with the flavour of the season.
In hindsight — always 20/20 — there were several suspicious aspects in the whole affair that I had overlooked. At the time, two things kept me from realising I was being duped. One is fear — of being wrongly implicated and dragged into a long-drawn legal process. The other is the awareness that our personal details — phone number, Aadhaar number, email, age, et al — are compromised and, probably, available for potential misuse by miscreants.
Memory of the 2018 Aadhaar data breach of 1.1 billion citizens is still fresh. There’s an axiom among journalists that citizens’ personal details are vulnerable and are easily available for misuse by miscreants. When I was being scammed, I was told that even though it was my Aadhaar that was misused, the onus of its misuse rested on me. I would be the one summoned for court hearings. And who wants to be caught in the vortex of the Indian legal system? Sunny Deol’s famous tarik pe tarik monologue from the 1993 film Damini, mentioned even in the Government of India’s Economic Survey 2017-18 to highlight the frequent delays in the judicial process, remains embedded in our consciousness for a reason. In August this year, even the Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud pointed out that people get so “fed up” with long-drawn court proceedings that they seek settlement outside court. This is how the process becomes the punishment.
With each passing day, more and more cases of digital arrest fraud are coming to light. It is evident that several fraudsters have cast a wide net and are tirelessly working to trap vulnerable citizens. The question, therefore, is not how one will be scammed, but when. If not you, then maybe someone you know might be a victim of such a fraud — this is a statistical inevitability. CERT-In recently released an advisory on online scams that can be a great document to share with your loved ones. Also, a word of advice, which is also an investment strategy: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. God forbid, if a basket is stolen, at least you have enough eggs in other places to minimise your loss.
aditya.vaddepalli@expressindia.com
