Bhubaneswar: An elderly couple from Nayapalli area of Bhubaneswar was allegedly kept under “digital arrest” by cyber fraudsters for over 35 hours, police said Thursday.
The couple, however, did not suffer any financial loss as the bank account provided by the fraudsters for transferring money was found to be non-functional, they said.
‘Digital arrest’ is a tactic where miscreants pose as law enforcement agency officials, and threaten people of arrest by making video calls.
A complaint was lodged at the Cyber Police Station, following which an investigation was initiated, a police officer said.
The victims were identified as Saroj Kumar Patnaik, a retired officer of a central public sector undertaking, and his wife Nirjharani.
“The caller said a terrorist had used my Aadhaar card for fraudulent activities. He claimed that an arrest warrant had been issued against us and shared a fake arrest order on a messaging platform,” she said.
The couple, in their 60s, was allegedly kept under continuous video surveillance by the fraudsters for more than 35 hours.
The accused “demanded Rs 1 crore” for their release and sought details of bank accounts.
The couple said they managed to come out of the situation around 10.30 pm Tuesday with the help of friends. They switched off their mobile phones and approached the cyber police.
“Cyber fraudsters usually target senior citizens and retired employees, who may have savings in their bank accounts. Such vulnerable people need to be very careful,” ACP Biswaranjan Senapati said.