Noida doctor falls prey to 'digital scam', scamster dupe her of Rs 59 lakh

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A Noida-based doctor recently fell prey to a digital arrest scam, wherein cyber fraudsters duped her of a whopping Rs 59 lakh. Digital arrest is a fast-emerging and widely-used technique among scamsters to threaten people and then dupe them.

On July 13, Dr. Puja Goyal received a call from a man who posed as a Telephone Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) official. According to a report on NDTV, the fraudster told the Noida Sector 77 resident that her phone was used to circulate porn clips.

Though Goyal initially denied the allegation, the caller eventually managed to convince her to join a video call. She was then threatened with serious consequences and the fraudster told her that she is under 'digital arrest'. After 48 hours of grilling and following the caller's instructions, the Noida-based doctor ended up transferring the money to his account.

Days after the incident upon realising that she fell prey to the scam, Dr Goyal registered a complaint with the Cyber Crime Cell of Noida Police at Sector 36.

According to Vivek Ranjan Rai, Assistant Commissioner of Police (cyber crime), the team has the details of the account into which Ms Goyal transferred Rs 59 lakh. "It is being verified and action will be taken," he told NDTV.

Recently, Noida Police had even issued an advisory warning people about such scams. "In recent months, around ten such incidents have been reported, leading to registered FIRs and ongoing investigations," the advisory read.

"If a suspicious call claims that legal action is being taken or asks for personal or financial information, citizens should immediately report it to the nearest police station or cyber cell," the advisory stated.