Woman loses nearly Rs 10L after digital arrest in Noida

NOIDA: A young woman from Delhi fell victim to a cyber fraud, losing Rs 9.90 lakh after being deceived by a fraudster claiming her account was involved in a money laundering case and keeping her under digital arrest for nearly 25 hours.

As per the complaint, the scammer, posing as a CBI officer, threatened the girl with imprisonment, forcing her to transfer the money to 12 different bank accounts.

The victim, Nida Shirin, who works in a private company office in Noida, received a call from an unknown number while at work. “The caller introduced himself as a CBI officer and said that Nida’s account has been used in money laundering. Information was also given about a case being registered in a police station in Hyderabad in this matter,” the complaint reads.

The fraudster, still impersonating a CBI officer, informed Nida that she might face jail time and would need to travel to Hyderabad for questioning. However, the scammer offered an alternative: online interrogation to avoid imprisonment. The call was then transferred to a supposed ED officer via Skype, who urged the victim to keep the matter confidential, claiming it was a national security issue.

During the interrogation, Nida was told that a transaction from her account was linked to the money laundering case involving Jet Airways owner Naresh Goyal.

The fraudster sent fake ED notices and arrest warrants to Nida’s WhatsApp, effectively keeping her under digital arrest for 25 hours while she transferred Rs 9.90 lakh to various accounts.

The victim realised she had been scammed when the fraudster pressured her to take out a loan and transfer more money. Nida reported the incident on the cyber helpline number 1930 and filed a complaint on the Home Ministry portal.

The Noida Cyber Crime Police Station is investigating the case. “A complaint has been received and we are gathering information about the accounts to which the money was transferred, and will soon register a formal case,” said Vijay Kumar, in-charge of

Noida cyber cell.