How digital scams work

I too get these strange phone calls.

One day one person called me and told me I won a car and if I pay taxes ( he quoted Rs. 35,000), I could get it. I laughed and said, he can keep my car as a gift for giving me such wonderful news. “You don’t want the car?” he asked. ‘No, thanks!’ I said and hung up!

Then another lady called me one day and said, “You dad had paid a premium for life insurance. As he is no more you can claim it as he mentioned your name in the policy”. ‘My dad didn’t tell me this’, I told her.

‘He might not have told you but it is there in our records’, she said. “Okay then, you can keep the money, I don’t need it!’’, I told her and disconnected the phone.

Then a ‘police officer’ called me recently from Mumbai. “Your Aadhar card was used in an international fraud case. Our boss wants to speak to you in this regard”, he said.

‘I will speak with no one as I am not involved in any fraud case. Do whatever you want’, I told him and hung up.

Then another officer called me sometime back and told me my Aadhar card was used in a smuggling case. You will get into trouble if you don’t transfer the amount ( some 50000 rupees) to resolve the issue.

“Okay, my dad works with the home department, I will find out about the case , don’t worry he will solve the problem if it really exists,” I told him and disconnected the phone.

They tried several things but never succeeded. Because I am aware of these scams and my dad really worked with the Home department and told us about these scams several times.

So I wasn’t scared when I received these calls. In fact I had some fun when these ‘pseudo-officials’ called me to cheat me.

Because they wasted their time and effort on a well informed and confident person!

These things work because people are not well-informed and get scared when they receive these threats.

Digital frauds work primarily because they exploit a combination of factors including: people's lack of awareness about online security, the ease of accessing personal information online, the anonymity of the digital world, sophisticated social engineering techniques, and the rapid evolution of technology which often outpaces security measures; allowing fraudsters to deceive individuals into divulging sensitive information or performing actions that benefit the attacker, often without realizing it.

Fraudsters often use psychological manipulation tactics to trick people into revealing sensitive information, like passwords or credit card details, by impersonating trusted entities or creating a sense of urgency. If they say it is urgent and that you must listen to what they say, just do the opposite and hit the ignore button.

When personal information is leaked from online databases, it can be readily used by fraudsters to target individuals with personalized scams. Yes, they almost always call me by name!

Many users are not adequately educated about online security practices, making them susceptible to common scams.

"Digital arrests" work, or are effective in scamming people, because they exploit victims' fear of legal repercussions by pretending to be law enforcement officials, often threatening immediate arrest for fabricated crimes, which can lead to panic and compliance with the scammer's demands for money to "resolve" the issue, even though such "arrests" are completely fake and have no legal basis.

Scammers leverage the public's fear of legal trouble, creating a sense of urgency by claiming an arrest is imminent if the victim doesn't comply.

They often impersonate real law enforcement agencies or officials, making their threats seem credible.

Scammers may isolate victims by demanding they don't contact anyone else, preventing them from verifying the legitimacy of the claims.

They use digital platforms like phone calls or video chats to appear more convincing and create a sense of legitimacy.

"Digital arrest" is not a real legal concept and there is no mechanism for someone to be arrested solely through digital means.

So if you receive a threat of a digital arrest, immediately try to contact a trusted person or verify the information through official channels if you are not confident about the situation.