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Beware of Digital Arrests: PIB Uncovers Fake Cybercrime Letters Used To Trap Victims

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Recently, a fake letter claiming to be from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has been making the rounds. To raise awareness about “digital arrest,” the Press Information Bureau (PIB) fact-checked and exposed the modus operandi of the digital arrest gang that uses fake cybercrime letters to arrest people digitally. Digital crimes are rapidly increasing across the country. The gang, suspected to be operating from outside India, frames individuals in false cases such as child pornography, money laundering, and drug use to digitally arrest them. Reports indicate that the gang contacts people via WhatsApp, posing as representatives of a courier company. They then transfer the call to someone pretending to be a police officer. Subsequently, they put the victim under digital arrest by presenting a fake “letter of arrest” allegedly issued by higher authorities. To expose this scam, the PIB fact-check team uploaded a copy of the fake letter on the X platform on 09/12/2024. “A #fake letter allegedly issued by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has been received by people with several allegations leveled against them, and a reply is sought to avoid arrest. No such letter has been issued by I4C or any organization under the Government of India,” the PIB said in a tweet. What Should You Do If You Receive This Letter? If you receive a letter like this, it is important to stay calm and take the following steps: Do Not Respond – Ignore any instructions in the letter, especially if it asks for personal details, money, or immediate action. Check the Source – Official letters from the Indian government or any legitimate agencies do not demand urgent responses or personal information without prior communication. Report It – If you receive such a letter, report it to your local police or the Cyber Crime Cell. This helps authorities track and stop these scams from spreading further. Verify with Authorities – If you are unsure whether the letter is real, contact the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre directly. You can visit their official website or call the official helpline for clarification. Recently, former Femina Miss India winner Shivankita Dixit was allegedly digitally arrested for around two hours and duped out of Rs 99,000 in Agra, according to the police. Shivankita Dixit, who won Femina Miss India 2017, resides with her family in Agra, Uttar Pradesh.

Goa CM Pramod Sawant’s email was hacked, restored

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According to an official, the Cyber Crime cell of Goa Police immediately swung into action and the CM’s personal Gmail ID was restored after four to five hours. Goa police have initiated a probe days after the personal email account of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant was hacked. According to sources, the chief minister’s Gmail ID was hacked on November 19, following which a complaint was lodged with the cyber-crime cell of Goa police. The account was recovered after over five hours, police said. They said the accused hacker also changed information related to the recovery of the email account but that the account was not misused. “A probe has been initiated to track the hacker. As per the investigation so far, no data from the account has been found missing,” said a police official.