Hyderabad police nabs 31-year-old man in digital arrest case

HYDERABAD: The Cyber Crime police station arrested a 31-year-old man in connection with a digital arrest case. The accused, Mohammed Zubair Ahmed, was detained at RGI Airport upon his arrival from Dubai.

According to the police, Zubair was involved in a Fedex fraud case, in which he operated multiple bank accounts used for fraudulent transactions while residing in Dubai. He, along with his associates, duped victims by impersonating officials and coercing them into making payments under the guise of a “digital arrest” or FedEx courier scam.

On July 25, 2024, the Hyderabad police received a complaint from a victim who had fallen prey to the scam a day earlier. The complaint received a call from fraudsters posing as executives from the FedEx courier company. They falsely claimed that a package booked under his Aadhaar contained illegal items, including drugs, and had been seized by customs.

For further inquiry, the scammers instructed him to connect with Mumbai police via Skype. During the call, they presented forged documents related to a money laundering case and demanded payments into specified bank accounts in exchange for a police clearance certificate. Believing the call to be genuine, the victim transferred Rs 55 lakh.

The police revealed that Zubair received multiple bank accounts from his associates and operated these accounts along with his associate Sadiq. Investigations found that Zubair and Sadiq had access to 52 accounts that facilitated large transactions. According to NCRP data, 124 cases have been registered across India related to these fraudulent accounts, including 23 cases in Telangana.