Hyderabad: Deepak Karmugekar, a Hyderabad-based social media influencer, in collaboration with the Hyderabad Police, on Saturday, February 14, began raising awareness on the “digital arrest” scam – a kind of fraud where scammers impersonate police or government officials on video call, falsely accusing victims of crimes they didn’t commit and extorting money by threatening arrest or legal action.
Karmungekar shared a video on social media platform Instagram and captioned it, “This reel is part of cybercrime awareness initiative by Hyderabad Commissioner of Police VC Sajjanar.”
In the reel, Karmungekar addresses the public. “What’s the matter? Why have you made that face? Did the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) call you?” he asks before explaining that such calls are made by fraudsters. “You paid money to the CBI because they appeared on a video call? You have been scammed, this is called a digital arrest,” he said.
He said that the fraudsters impersonate officials from these agencies to gain money from the victims by pressurising them and using fear tactics. They make video calls on the pretext of conducting a verification.
The influencer said that these scammers have all the details about the victim, where they work and their residential address. They want to keep the victims in constant fear and pressure to extract money.
How to deal with digital arrest
The influencer shared tips to deal with digital arrests and said that people must remember that no law enforcement agency connects with people on video calls. “In case you receive such calls, first, you must calm down. Don’t provide any personal information to anyone,” Karmungekar said.
He urged the public to think before panicking. “If anyone asks for money, stating that the victim has been booked for some offence, you should question why the agency contacted you and asked for money in such cases,” he said.
The influencer then urged the public to take action against scamsters by recording the calls and contacting the national cyber helpline “1930” or to report the interaction to the cybercrime website.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Mohammed Baleegh | 
