Japanese national duped of Rs 35.5 lakh after ‘digital arrest’

Bengaluru: A Japanese national, Hiroshi Sasaki, who works in Bengaluru, lost Rs 35.5 lakh after being ‘digitally arrested’ by cyber fraudsters, police said, on Thursday. The incident occurred between December 12 and 14, police added. Sasaki, who lives in a flat near Dairy Circle, received a phone call on December 12.

The caller was claiming to be from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of In-dia. The caller informed him that his phone number would be blocked due to its unauthorised use. To avoid the disconnection Sasaki was asked to di-al a number. Upon dialling the number, he was immediately connected to a WhatsApp call from someone claiming to be from the Cyber Crime wing of Mumbai Police.

The caller informed Sasaki that he was involved in a money laundering case. The fraudsters “digitally arrested” him and siphoned off Rs 35.5 lakh by having him make payments through various means, including RTGS. He was also told that the money would be returned after the investigation was completed.

After realising that he had been duped, the victim approached the South East Cyber Crimes, Economics and Narcotics (CEN) police station and lodged a complaint. ‘Digital arrest’ is a new cyber fraud, where the fraudster poses as law enforcement agency officials from agencies like CBI, and cus-toms and threatens people of arrest by making video calls.