Influencer shares 40-hour ‘digital arrest’ scam ordeal: ‘Played good cop, bad cop, breaking me down mentally’

Cyber fraud has become rampant in India in recent years

A social media influencer revealed that he had fallen for a digital scam that held him “hostage” for almost 40 hours, in the latest illustration of rampant cyber crime in India.

In an Instagram video on Sunday, Ankush Bahuguna narrated how he felt forced giving into the demands of the scammers even when they asked him to make several large financial transactions and keep everything from family and friends.

“I’ve been missing from social media and everywhere for the last three days because I was held hostage by some scammers,” he began. “I am still in a little bit of a shock. I’ve lost money. I lost my mental health to this. I can’t believe that this happened to me.”

Mr Bahuguna received a call from an unlisted international number telling him his package had been cancelled for delivery and asking to press a number for further information and support.

Curious about a package that he did not remember sending, the influencer pressed the number, a decision he described as “the biggest mistake” of his life.

He was put through to a “customer support representative”, who went on to tell him the package had been seized by police as it contained “illegal” substances, but did not explain further.

Mr Bahuguna was further told there was an arrest warrant out for him and he had only an hour to contact police and explain that his identity had been stolen.

“I’m just panicking,” Mr Bahuguna recalled. “And then he convinces me that I don’t have enough time to go to the police station, so he will do me a favor by connecting me to the police directly.”

Mr Bahuguna was “connected” to someone claiming to belong to the Mumbai police via a video call on Whatsapp who proceeded to “interrogate” the influencer. He was told by the “policeman” that he was a “prime suspect” in a “national” case and was accused of money laundering and drug trafficking, which meant he was now in “self custody”.

“They isolated me completely. I was not allowed to pick up calls. I was not allowed to message people or reply to their messages, let anybody in the house. They told me that if I tried to reach out to anyone, they would arrest me and harm the people I contacted,” he said in the video.

For the next 40 hours, he said, the “police” asked him to turn off every electronic gadget in the house and show them on video he had done so, forbade him from answering any phone calls or responding to text messages.

“They played good cop, bad cop, breaking me down mentally. I was crying, but they kept me on the call for 40 hours straight,” he said.

Ankush Bahuguna said the scammers placed him in a 40-hour ‘digital arrest’ (Getty Images)

After a while, Mr Bahuguna was told to make multiple “fishy” financial transactions, which he did, even travelling to a bank to do so.

“They took my bank details. They gathered so much personal information about my life,” he said. “They told me, ‘Your parents are in danger’ and ‘If you try to contact anyone, we’ll arrest you.’”

Mr Bahuguna’s friends and family called and texted him while he was in “self custody”, but he was told by “police” to ensure he kept their concerns at bay.

“People were messaging me asking, ‘Is someone holding you hostage? This is not normal behaviour. Do you need help?’”

“I was shaking, I was anxious, and I kept thinking, ‘What is happening? What is going on?’” he said. “I was literally crying and begging them.”

Mr Bahuguna finally managed to read one of the many messages he had received that mentioned “digital arrest” scams, which have become increasingly common in India.

“The thing with these scams is if you buy one lie, they will tell 10 more, and those will be scarier things,” he said.

In his caption of the video, the influencer thanked friends who had realised something was wrong and credited them with “literally” saving his life.

“I feel so lucky to have friends with such strong instincts who noticed a change in my behaviour even when they were getting ‘I am okay’ texts from me. They literally saved the day. Imagine if they hadn’t come looking for me or looked for clues! I’d probably still be in that cyber arrest and would’ve lost all my money,” he said.

“Pls beware of this scam. I know a lot of you are aware of it but I don’t think a lot of people understand the extent to which these scammers can go to control you!”

The Independent has reached out to Mr Bahuguna for comment.

Delhi’s cyber police say scammers stole £42.18m in 2024 (Getty)

The “digital arrest” scam was the subject of scores of news reports on cyber crime in 2024.

In such a scam, the perpetrators pose as law enforcement officials and intimidate victims with accusations of financial misconduct, tax evasion, or in Mr Bahuguna’s case, drug trafficking.

The victims are coerced into transferring large sums of money to bank accounts or UPI IDs on the pretext of “assisting with the investigation” or “refundable security deposit”.

According to Delhi’s cyber police, 2024 saw a significant rise in cyber fraud cases, with 61,525 complaints received until June, a considerable increase from the 55,267 cases reported during the same period last year. The data also shows that the scammers stole Rs 4.52bn (£42.18m), a 158 percent increase from the Rs 1.75bn (£16.33m) in 2023.

In November, a 69-year-old mother of two from Hyderabad, in the southern state of Telangana, lost her life’s savings—a sum of Rs 56m (£0.52m)—after making 14 transactions over 20 days on the instructions of scammers who accused her of being involved in a money laundering case.

In December, a 39-year-old software engineer from Bengaluru city reportedly lost Rs 118m (£1.1m) in a similar scam that lasted 18 days.