Bengaluru, Dec 19: A 59-year-old Japanese national, Hiroshi Sasaki, has been defrauded of Rs 35.49 lakh by cybercriminals who allegedly placed him under a non-existent “digital arrest” in a rare scam case in Bengaluru, police said.
The police described the incident as unusual, as the concept of a “digital arrest” has no legal basis under Indian law. The cybercriminals allegedly impersonated authorities from various Indian agencies to manipulate Sasaki into transferring large sums of money under duress.
Sasaki, who works for a private firm in Bellandur and has been residing in Bengaluru on an employment visa for six years, received a call on December 12 from someone claiming to be from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The caller threatened to disconnect his phone number and transferred him to individuals posing as officials from the Mumbai police’s cybercrime branch. The fraudsters accused Sasaki of involvement in a money-laundering case and threatened him with arrest.
The scammers sent Sasaki forged documents resembling those of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Mumbai police, and Reserve Bank of India (RBI), further intimidating him into compliance.
Fearing legal trouble, Sasaki made multiple payments between December 12 and 14, transferring Rs 35.49 lakh via RTGS and UPI transactions. The scammers assured him that the money would be refunded once the investigation was completed, but when no refund materialized, Sasaki approached the police.
“The case is a rare instance of cybercriminals exploiting fear to defraud an individual,” a senior police officer said. The Southeast Cyber, Economic, and Narcotics (CEN) crime police have registered a case under the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which governs crimes in India.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the primary accounts used by the scammers had no funds remaining. “Efforts are underway to trace the trail of the stolen money and identify the culprits,” the police officer added.
This incident highlights the growing concerns over cybercrimes in Bengaluru, a city that has seen an alarming rise in online frauds. According to the police, residents of Bengaluru have lost a total of Rs 1,806 crore to cybercrimes as of November 30, 2024. Although the number of cases has decreased compared to last year, the daily financial losses have increased by 168 percent, with an additional Rs 5.40 crore lost to cybercrimes each day in 2024.
The police continue to urge residents to exercise caution when dealing with unsolicited phone calls or online requests for money, especially those that invoke fear of legal consequences or involve urgent payment demands.
