Doctor Loses 59 Lakhs In ‘Digital Arrest’ Scam, Was Told She Circulated Porn

New Delhi: A Noida-based woman doctor has lost ₹ 59 lakh after scamsters tricked her into ‘digital arrest’ for 48 hours – a modus operandi that is being increasingly used in Delhi NCR to dupe people.Dr Puja Goyal, a resident of Noida Sector 77, received a call on July 13. The caller introduced himself as an official of Telephone Regulatory Authority of India and told Ms Goyal that her phone was being used to circulate porn videos.The doctor denied this, but the caller convinced her into joining a video call. The woman was threatened with serious consequences and told that she is under digital arrest. After 48 hours of being grilled, Ms Goyal transferred 59 lakh 54 thousand rupees into a specified account. On realising that she had been scammed, she registered a police complaint on Monday — July 22 — at the cyber crime cell in Noida Sector 36,Vivek Ranjan Rai, Assistant Commissioner of Police (cyber crime), has said they have the details of the account into which Ms Goyal transferred money. “They are being verified and action will be taken.”Digital arrest is fast emerging as a preferred tactic among scamsters to scare people and then dupe them. In such cases, scamsters confine the target to a house, sometimes a room, and pose as law enforcement authorities. Fake IDs are shared to convince the targets that they are actual officers. Earlier, a 72-year-old woman from Delhi’s posh Chittaranjan Park area was duped into transferring ₹ 83 lakh. Like Dr Puja Goyal, Krishna Dasgupta was told that her phone had been used for criminal activities and grilled for over 12 hours.