"They gathered so much personal information about my life."
Indian influencer Ankush Bahugana explained how he fell for a digital scam that held him “hostage” for nearly 40 hours.
Ankush, who has 1.1 million Instagram followers, shared his ordeal in a video.
He said: “I’ve been missing from social media and everywhere for the last three days because I was held hostage by some scammers.
“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.”
Ankush received a call from an unlisted international number telling him his package had been cancelled and asking him to press a number for further information.
Ankush did not remember sending a package but pressed the number, which he said was “the biggest mistake” of his life.
He was put through to a “customer support representative”, who told him the package had been seized by police as it contained “illegal” substances but did not explain further.
The influencer was also told there was an arrest warrant out for him and he had an hour to contact police and explain that his identity had been stolen.
Ankush recalled: “I’m just panicking.
“And then he convinces me that I don’t have enough time to go to the police station, so he will do me a favour by connecting me to the police directly.”
He was transferred to someone claiming to be from Mumbai police via a video call, who proceeded to “interrogate” him.
Ankush was told that he was a “prime suspect” in a large-scale case and was accused of money laundering and drug trafficking, which meant he was now in “self-custody”.
He said in the video: “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.”
For the next 40 hours, the “police” asked him to turn off all of his electronic gadgets and show them on video he had done so.
Ankush said: “They played good cop, bad cop, breaking me down mentally. I was crying, but they kept me on the call for 40 hours straight.”
After a while, Ankush was told to make several financial transactions, which he did.
He said: “They took my bank details. They gathered so much personal information about my life.
“They told me, ‘Your parents are in danger’ and ‘If you try to contact anyone, we’ll arrest you’.”
Ankush’s friends and family contacted him but he was told by “police” to ensure he kept their worries at bay.
The influencer continued: “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?’”
“I was literally crying and begging them.”
Ankush eventually read one of the many messages that had mentioned “digital arrest” scams.
He added: “The thing with these scams is if you buy one lie, they will tell 10 more, and those will be scarier things.”
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In the caption, Ankush thanked friends who realised something was wrong.
He wrote: “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.
“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!”
“Digital arrest” scams see perpetrators pose as law enforcement officials and intimidate victims with accusations of financial misconduct, tax evasion or drug trafficking.
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