26-year-old forced to give up video call duped of Rs 1.78 lakh in digital arrest scam

Andheri police have registered a case of harassment and extortion after a 26-year-old Mumbai woman was forced to strip during a video call by crooks posing as police officials. She was also duped of Rs 1.78 lakh as the scammers manipulated her by accusing her of her involvement in a case.

According to the FIR, the incident took place between November 19 and 20. The victim is employed with a pharmaceutical company and a resident of Borivali East. She received a call from scammers posing as Delhi Police officers. The accused falsely accused her of involvement in a money laundering case related to businessman Naresh Goyal.

The scammers threatened her with arrest and used several phone numbers, forcing her to book a hotel room to cooperate with the interrogation. There, they asked him to participate in further discussions on a video call. During the call, the fraudsters asked for bank account verification, tricking her into transferring Rs 1.78 lakh. However, they did not stop there and continued to exploit her under the pretext of police investigation.

The woman was then asked to undress under the pretense of a “body check”. Following the incident, the victim finally reported it on November 28, after which a case of extortion and harassment was filed under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, India reported Today.

Initially, the case was filed at the Dahisar police station, but it was transferred to the Andheri Police, which is now working to detect the frauds.

Authorities urged the public to be cautious to avoid such scams. Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month issued a stern warning against digital arrest scams. He stressed that no government agency contacts people through phone or video calls for any kind of investigations.