A 40-year-old doctor in Noida, Dr. Pooja Goyal, fell victim to cybercriminals who posed as telecom officials and subjected her to "digital arrest," extorting Rs 59.54 lakh over two days. The incident occurred between July 15-and 16 when the gynecologist was tricked by fraudsters claiming to be from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). They connected her to an alleged police officer from Mumbai's Tilak Nagar Police Station, who falsely informed her of an FIR for sharing porn videos and an arrest warrant against her.
Additionally, Goyal was told that her name was linked to a money laundering case involving Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal, with the National Security Act imposed on her. Under threats of death and the kidnapping of her daughter, the cybercriminals coerced her into transferring Rs 59.54 lakh to their bank accounts to avoid trouble. Goyal transferred the money in two installments: Rs 49.54 lakh to a bank account in Ahmedabad on the first day and Rs 10 lakh to an account in Raipur on the second day. Throughout the ordeal, the fraudsters kept her on continuous WhatsApp video calls.
The case has been registered at Noida Cyber Crime Police Station, with ACP (cybercrime) Vivek Ranjan Rai leading the investigation.
This incident is not isolated. In May, another doctor from Noida, Dr. Aarti Surbhit, lost Rs 45 lakh to scamsters impersonating Mumbai Crime Branch officers, keeping her under "digital arrest" for over seven hours. Similarly, an IT engineer in Noida was defrauded of Rs 3.75 lakh by individuals posing as police officers online.
