Four held for techie’s ‘digital arrest’, cheating him of 1L

Ahmedabad: The Sola police arrested four persons in connection with the ‘digital arrest' of a software developer from Ghatlodia and defrauding him of Rs 1 lakh. The victim had reported the incident to the police on Nov 30, although it occurred in Aug.
Those arrested include Prince Patel (21) from Nikol, Jaimingiri Goswami (24) from Vastrapur, Tanvir Sandhi (30) and Sahil Multani (25) from Junagadh.Police said that Patel was the mastermind who managed USDT (a form of cryptocurrency) transfers to processors with Chinese numbers and received funds in rented bank accounts. Goswami and Multani provided rented accounts, while Sandhi's account was used for money transfers.
According to case details, the software developer employed at a private firm on Sindhu Bhavan Road received an automated IVR (interactive voice response) call on Aug 5 last year regarding an undelivered courier. Following the instructions and pressing ‘1', he was connected to an individual who claimed a parcel was sent from Chennai to Mumbai in his name.
The caller accurately provided the victim's Aadhaar details, lending credibility to the call. Subsequently, the victim's call was transferred to another person who identified himself as Sunil Dutt from the Mumbai crime branch. This individual claimed police discovered six bank cards in the parcel and threatened arrest. Under 'digital arrest', the victim transferred Rs 1 lakh online.
Police said that Patel sold USDT at premium rates to Chinese nationals. He and Goswami would provide rented account details to Chinese individuals for collecting victims' money. They used Google Translator for communication with Chinese handlers and connected through social media applications.
Goswami has cases pending at Palanpur Cyber Crime and Modasa Town police stations. Patel was previously arrested and released on bail in a digital fraud case in Vadodara. Authorities seized Patel and Goswami's phones. Evidence revealed their connections with individuals in Gujarat, other states, and foreign nationals, along with records of cryptocurrency transactions and bank details.