A family in Bengaluru was trapped in ‘digital arrest’ of cyber thugs for 6 hours. He was threatened by false allegations of money laundering. The son’s intelligence saved the family from a major fraud by recognizing the scam.
Bengaluru: A surprising case has come to light in Bengaluru, where an employee of ‘Kannada Prabha’ and his family were trapped in the ‘digital arrest’ of cyber thugs for about 6 hours. The thugs wanted to extort money from him by threatening to implicate him in a money laundering case, but his son’s wisdom saved the entire family from a major fraud. This incident happened with Ghanshyam Das Prabhu, a resident of the fourth phase of Yelahanka suburb. Ghanshyam is a manager in the advertising department of ‘Kannada Prabha’. His wife’s name is Jyoti. It was the awareness of their son Abhishek Prabhu about cyber fraud that saved his parents from this big trouble.
Threatened wearing police uniform
A man wearing police uniform threatened Ghanshyam over video call. He said that a money laundering investigation is going on against him. The swindler further frightened them by sending a copy of the investigation order on WhatsApp. Ghanshyam immediately informed this to his son Abhishek, who works in a private company. As soon as Abhishek saw the documents, he understood that this was a ‘digital arrest’ scam. He immediately advised his father not to give any bank details. When Ghanshyam did not give any information to the thugs, Abhishek came home and took charge himself. He spoke to the thug and threatened to complain to the police, after which the thug disconnected the call.
How was the trap of fraud laid?
At around 12:45 pm on Wednesday, Ghanshyam received a call from an unknown number. The caller introduced himself as an employee of a telecom company and said that a case of financial fraud has been registered against you and the police will interrogate you. After a while, a man dressed in police uniform made a video call to him on WhatsApp (9479148514). He introduced himself as ACP of Navi Mumbai police station.
The swindler alleged, ‘You are accused of illegally transferring Rs 38 crore abroad. Investigation has revealed that this work was done through Canara Bank ATM. Ghanshyam got scared after hearing this. The swindler refused to disconnect the call and sent fake documents in the names of CBI and Mumbai Police on WhatsApp.
This made Ghanshyam more scared. The thug took his personal and professional information from him. Meanwhile, the thug also threatened Ghanshyam’s wife Jyoti not to leave the house. When Jyoti said that she was not feeling well, the thug ‘allowed’ her to have food in the room and rest.
Message sent to son on the pretext of toilet
After some time, Ghanshyam made the excuse of going to the toilet and secretly sent a message to his son Abhishek on WhatsApp explaining the entire situation. Abhishek became alert as soon as he read the message. He checked the order sent in the name of CBI and Mumbai Police and understood that it was ‘digital arrest’. He immediately messaged his father not to give bank account information under any circumstances.
After this, when the swindler asked for bank details, Ghanshyam said that he did not know about his and his wife’s bank accounts. He told, ‘I work in Kannada Prabha newspaper. The passbooks of both my bank accounts are in the office and my wife’s passbook is with my son.
When Abhishek returned home in the evening, the thug was still on the video call. Abhishek spoke to him directly and asked how his father could transfer Rs 38 crores. When Abhishek threatened to call the local police, the thug said, ‘This has nothing to do with the local police, you cannot complain.’ But Abhishek was not afraid and kept asking questions, after which the thug got nervous and disconnected the call.