Context

According to the Delhi Police around 200 cases of “Digital Arrest” are reported from the nation every month.

Digital Arrest: The Rise of Cyber Fraud and Coercive Tactics

• A New Form of Cybercrime: It refers to a fraud where impostors impersonating law enforcement officers deceive the victims into believing that their bank account, SIM card, Aadhaar card, or other cards linked to their bank account has been used unlawfully.
• Threat of Arrest: The cyber frauds make the victim believe that they will be arrested soon, if they do not agree to be interrogated over video call.
• Demand For: The fraudsters then virtually restrain the victims from moving out of the house and coerce them into paying them money.
  • Cyber frauds ask not to disclose any information to anyone in the name of “national security”.

Cyber Frauds Exploit Victims Through Coercive Tactics

• A 32-year-old woman IT engineer based in Noida was allegedly duped of Rs 3.75 lakh by holding her “hostage” over a Skype call for around seven hours, gradually withdrawing money from her account in a planned manner.
• A 50-year-old woman was allegedly put under ”digital arrest”, and was duped of ₹11.11 lakh by fraudsters claiming to be from law enforcement agencies.
• Four persons were arrested by the Delhi Police for a ‘digital arrest’ operation, in which they posed as officers and threatened people through video calls. 

Measures to Protect from Digital Arrest

• Cyber Hygiene: By regularly updating passwords, and software and also enabling two-factor authentications to reduce the chances of unauthorized access.
• Phishing Attempts: These can be evaded by refraining from clicking on dubious links or downloading attachments from unknown sources and also authenticating the legitimacy of emails and messages before sharing any personal information.
• Secured Devices: By installing reputable antivirus and anti-malware solutions and keeping operating systems and applications up to date with the latest security protocols.
• Virtual Private Networks (VPNs): VPNs can be employed to encrypt internet connections thus enhancing privacy and security. However one must be cautious of free VPN services and OTP only for trustworthy providers.  
• Monitor Online Services: A regular review of online accounts for any unauthorized or unlawful activities and setting up alerts for any changes to account settings or login attempts may help in the early detection of cybercrime and coping with it.
• Secure Communication Channels: Using secure communication techniques such as encryption can be done for the protection of sensitive information. Sharing of passwords and other information must be cautiously done especially in public forums.
• Report Immediately: If anyone has been duped by the scammers the victims must immediately call the police helpline numbers to report the matter.
• Collaborative Efforts: The collaboration of law enforcement agencies and telecommunication companies can effectively limit the access points used by fraudsters by identifying and blocking susceptible calls.

Conclusion

The rise of “Digital Arrest” presents a noteworthy and innovative threat to cybersecurity. To combat this threat, people need to be aware, have knowledge, perform educated practices and adopt and follow strong cybersecurity measures. 

News Source: The Hindu

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