The scammer posing as a cop can be seen in this grabs taken from the video | Instagram (@shinny_martina)
‘Digital Arrest’ is something that has become so widespread in India that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked everyone to protect themselves from the scam. The methodology is simple. A scammer poses as police officer in uniform and makes a video call to the would-be victim. After spinning a fake story about how a police case has been registered against the person, the scammer then tells the person that he/ she has been put under ‘digital arrest’. Demand of money to ‘settle’ the matter soon follows and before he knows it, the victim loses lakhs or even crores of rupees.
We hear such stories regularly these days. And perhaps that is why people are gradually being alert about such scams and in some cases, even successfully protecting themselves.
Such a video is currently doing rounds on social media. The video shows a person (who is not on screen) getting a Video call from a scammer dressed as police official. As the person answers the call, the scammer asks him to come in front on the phone screen.
It is till here the scammer is able to maintain some composure and continue his act as a cop. But things change quickly.
When asked to come in front of the screen, the person (who is clearly not a would-be victim) brings his dog in front of the camera.
“Yeh lijiye, sir. Aagya main camera ke saamne,” (Here you go, sir. I’m here in front of the camera) says the man.
The scammer again asks him to show his face on camera. The person insists that this (the dog) is his real face. But this time, the person mocks the scammer by calling him ‘nakli vardi’ (fake uniform)
“Arey yeh raha main. Arey, thanedaar. Dikhraha hai? Arey nakli vardi,” (Here I am. Hey, Officer. Can you see me? Oh, fake uniform) says the man.
It is by now hard for the scammer to maintain his act and he breaks into a small laugh. He then disconnects the video call realizing his game is up.
Watch the full video below
It is essential to understand that there is no such thing as ‘digital arrest’ and that everyone should protect themselves from attempts of scamming.
