UP Model Duped of Rs 99,000 in Cyber Scam by Fake CBI Officers

Agra (UP): A model was allegedly digitally arrested by cybercriminals for two hours here and lost Rs 99,000, police said on Wednesday.

'Digital arrest' is a new cyber fraud, where the accused poses as law enforcement agency officials, like CBI or customs officials, and threatens people of arrest by making video calls in the name of fake international parcels of banned drugs or being involved in money laundering cases, they said.

Shivankita Dixit, who claims to be a former Femina Miss India, West Bengal 2017, told the police that on Tuesday she received a WhatsApp call from the accused who threatened her with charges of receiving illicit funds tied to cases of human trafficking and drug trafficking, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Lohamandi) Mayank Tiwari said.

The accused posed as CBI officers and told her to transfer Rs 99,000 to avoid arrest. She complied and made the payment, Tiwari said. Following this, she told her family and realised that she had fallen victim to a cyber scam. An FIR has been registered and further investigation is underway, Tiwari added.