Bhubaneswar: In yet another case of cyber fraud in Odisha, a retired officer of a public sector company and his ex-lecturer wife were allegedly kept under ‘digital arrest’ for around 35 hours by fraudsters who attempted to extort Rs one crore from them.
The shocking incident took place at the house of the retired officer of NALCO and his wife in Nayapalli area of Bhubaneswar.
As per the complaint lodged by the elderly couple, a call was received from an unknown number on February 9 and the caller identified himself as a police officer. The caller reportedly claimed that terrorists were misusing the Aadhaar card numbers of the couple and that they were under investigation for alleged terror links.
The caller also threatened them with immediate arrest and instructed them to remain confined to their home and not to move out without permission. The two were informed that they were under digital arrest and that the matter was being investigated by the NIA.
The frightened couple complied with the instructions of the caller and kept themselves confined to their house for around 35 hours. The two said that fraudster demanded Rs one crore to ‘settle’ the matter and halt legal action against them.
However, when the couple went to the bank to transfer the demanded amount, the situation took a new turn. It was found that the account provided by the fraudster was inactive. After further verifications, the two realised that they were being cheated in a cyber fraud.
Thereafter, the couple approached the cyber police and escaped a major financial loss. Authorities have urged citizens, especially senior citizens, to remain alert against such ‘digital arrest’ scams and verify any claims made over phone calls before taking action.
Stating that she always advised people to be careful while attending calls from unknown phone numbers, the victim woman said she was surprised as to how she failed to realise what was happening to them.
