Kolkata: Growing cases of 'Digital Arrests' have turned into nightmares as the National Crime Reporting Portal states over 15 lakh such cases have been reported to police across the country.
According to the Criminal Investigation Department of West Bengal Police and the Detective Department of Kolkata Police, a staggering 65,000 'Digital Arrest' cases have been reported in Bengal.
Bringing more light on what this cyber trickery encompasses, ethical hacker and cyber expert Sandip Sengupta said, "There is nothing called Digital Arrest. It is just like another instance of cyber fraud. I want to inform the common people that police will never call anyone to threaten with arrests. Mainly, some Chinese and Pakistani numbers are being used to make such con calls".
"Sometimes the caller says your parcel with narcotics has been intercepted at the airport and you will be arrested within an hour. You can't move without our order. It is also being said that several FIRs have been registered in your name. Sometimes people are also being threatened by fraudsters using the uniforms and insignias of the Delhi/Mumbai Police and CBI. But if you want to remain safe, never fall prey to their demands of sending money to an account," he said.
Advising further, Sengupta said, "Don't panic and first block the number from which such calls are coming. The conmen are so cunning that they evade police easily and it's very difficult to track the numbers they call from. So instead of freaking out, the best possible way is to block these numbers. If anyone remits money to the fraudulent accounts, it needs to be reported to the police first".
"Police never make such calls and several such instances have already been reported from in Kasba, Tollygaunge, Charu Market, Bansdroni and other places of Kolkata. Recently a senior citizen lost Rs 66 lakh to digital blackmailers for which two have been nabbed from Maharashtra. The most important thing to do in such cases is to knock at the door of police instead of fretting over it," Joint Commissioner (crime) Rupesh Kumar said.
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