SBI staff saves senior citizen from falling prey to ₹13-lakh 'digital arrest' scam in Hyderabad

In Hyderabad, the staff of State Bank of India (SBI), notorious for their rap in memes, has been lauded after three digital fraud cases were prevented by its staff through training by its branch’s cyber fraud experts at the AC Guards. Surya Swathi, a bank officer, prevented a top citizen from losing ₹13 lakh in a ‘digital arrest’ scam at the same branch.

The scam targeted a 61-year-old child specialist, a long-time SBI customer, who fraudsters informed that he was put under “digital arrest” and must not tell anyone about it. The confused customer went to the bank to withdraw the large amount by breaking his Fixed Deposits.

Bank associate Surya Swathi noticed the customer’s distressed state and asked about the matter. When the customer mentioned he needed the money for personal reasons, Swathi took him to the branch manager, Kumar Goud. The customer claimed he was planning to buy property, but when asked for more details, such as where the property was located, he admitted he hadn’t even seen it yet. This raised further suspicion among the staff.

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The bank team asked the elderly customer to come back with a family member, refused to process the transaction for three days and one visit it just avoided Swathi as she would definitely ask questions and went to another associate. Meanwhile, the bank staff had been advised of the situation.

During his third visit, Swathi showed the customer an article from the Prime Minister’s Mann Ki Baat, clarifying that “digital arrest” is actually fraud. Then she connected him to 1930, the national cybercrime helpline, and he came to know that many others are cheating of this same kind. After three days of continuous pressure from the fraudster, the old customer realized he was cheating and he stopped the call.

The customer shared that on all of his visits, he was on the phone with the fraudster, who kept telling him not to trust the bank staff.

What is ‘Digital Arrest’?

“Digital arrest” is a new type of scam whereby fraudsters convince their victims that they are under “digital” or “virtual” arrest. The victim is advised to remain in contact with the fraudster through a call and not to alert anybody to the situation before sending money into the scammer’s account. Amidst warnings from the police that there is no such thing as “digital arrest,” these scams target more senior citizens who are not conversant with technology and, therefore, make easy targets for this kind of fraud.

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