T.N. Cyber Crime Wing Police patrol the web for real-time interception of ‘digital arrests’ | #cybercrime | #infosec

Police officers said it is very tough to convince the victims of digital arrest fraud during interception. They have intercepted the victims in other states as well 

Recently, police officers of Tamil Nadu Cyber Crime Wing received information that a senior citizen in Tirupur town was being robbed by cyber fraudsters who were operating in a remote location, while investigating a related case based on a complaint from another man. The Cyber Crime Police, Western Region was alerted and instructed to track the victim and prevent further transfer of money into the accounts of fraudsters. 

A senior police officer said, “At 9.30 pm, the Cyber Crime Police reached home and knocked on the door. The victim refused to open the house, harbouring the notion that he was still under digital arrest. Even after officers of Cyber Crime formally introduced themselves to him, he was not convinced that they were the real police officers. He sent them away, refusing to open the door. Uniformed men from the local police station were summoned to assist. After two hours of the team working on him, the victim, who is a doctor and a senior citizen, finally opened the door. It was much later that he realised he had been defrauded.”

Thereafter, the senior citizen told the police that he had received a phone call on June 27, allegedly from the Mumbai Cyber Crime Police Station. The caller falsely claimed that he was involved in a cyber fraud and was taken for investigation. He transferred ₹2.9 crore under threat of arrest. Further, he disclosed that the caller continued to demand more money.

Similarly while doing cyber patrolling, the officers of the Cyber Crime Police spotted another high-value transaction originating in Bengaluru. They traced the phone number of the person, who was also a senior citizen, and police officers called him. “He refused to pick up the call or respond to text messages. It is ironic to note that he was not responding to our calls (Police) whereas he went on talking to fraudsters who pretended to be police men online. At last, we approached the CID Police in Bengaluru and they visited the house of the victim who was also under the impression that he was under ‘digital arrest’. We prevented the victim from transferring money further”, the officer explained. 

Sandeep Mittal, Additional Director General of Police, Cyber Crime of Tamil Nadu Police, said: “We have a dedicated Cyber Patrolling and Intelligence Team to proactively monitor and counter illegal, fraudulent activities in the cyber space. We use artificial intelligence tools to identify ongoing cyber scams in the country. When we get information of suspicious activity, the Cyber Command Centre maps geographical locations and alerts jurisdictional police immediately to prevent the victim from online transfer of the money.” 

Mr. Mittal said the team has so far, identified around 104 victims across the country. The investigating officers of the State are alerted. In some instances, pre-emptive intervention and freezing of suspicious transactions by the Tamil Nadu Cyber Crime Wing helped prevent huge sum of money from going into the hands of the cyber criminals further, he claimed. 

So far, 22 victims were identified in Maharashtra, 16 in Tamil Nadu, 12 in Karnataka, five each in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha, four each in Gujarat and Punjab. The Cyber Crime Wing of TN Police has taken pre-emptive action in Rajasthan, UP, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Manipur and Meghalaya. 

In yet another case, the team identified a suspicious activity in Chhattisgarh and sent an alert to the Chhattisgarh State Police along with the victim’s details. Chhattisgarh police reported that a couple in the location told them that they had transferred money online, as they were paying for a house in Delhi. They made three transactions before they realised they were conned and walked to the police station to lodge a complaint.

Shahnaz Illyas, Superintendent of Police of Cyber Crime Wing, Tamil Nadu, said, “It is very difficult to convince the victims who are under the so-called ‘digital arrest’ when the money involved is huge and the stake is too high. The victim often refused to disclose the truth when police officers went for pre-emptive action.”