Influencer Ankush Bahuguna scammed, 'digitally arrested' for 40 hours
What's the story
Social media influencer and YouTuber Ankush Bahuguna recently became the victim of a digital scam, leading to a horrific 40-hour ordeal.
The scam included phishing, identity theft, digital extortion, and financial fraud.
In an Instagram video on Sunday, Bahuguna explained how he was "hypnotized" into making a transaction and cut off from his friends and family for nearly two days via a non-stop video call.
Scam initiation
'I was crying, begging': Bahuguna's ordeal began with a call
Per Bahuguna, the scam started with an automated call from an international number, telling him that a package meant for delivery to him had been canceled.
Curious, he pressed "zero" for support, which he later called "the biggest mistake of his life."
This connected him to a person posing as a customer support representative who told him about an alleged package containing illegal substances in his name being sent to China.
Threats issued
Scammers threatened Bahuguna with arrest and harm
The scammers further intimidated Bahuguna by claiming an arrest warrant had been issued against him.
"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," he said in the video.
"They told me that if I tried to reach out to anyone, they would arrest me and harm the people I contacted."
He also had to switch off all the gadgets in his house.
Financial loss
Bahuguna was forced to make suspicious transactions
Throughout the ordeal, Bahuguna was forced to make dubious transactions under threats of ruining his career, harming his family, and dire consequences.
"They took my bank details. They gathered so much personal information about my life," he revealed.
The scammers even forced him to send screenshots of every action he took on his phone and made him pretend everything was normal when his friends reached out.
Ordeal ended
'People messaged me asking if someone was holding me hostage'
Bahuguna was compelled to assure his friends that he was fine and just busy when they visited him.
"People messaged me asking if someone was holding me hostage. This isn't normal behavior," he recalled.
The 40-hour ordeal finally ended when Bahuguna received a message from a friend warning him about the recent surge in digital scams in India, making him realize what he had been trapped in.
Clarification
Bahuguna encouraged everyone to raise awareness about such scams
After some Instagram users commented how Bahuguna could not realize the scam, he posted a comment saying, "It's easy to say but not everybody reacts the same way to panic, not everybody is aware of this scam, so many people have lost lakhs & crores."
"These people do research on you & tell you things they know will affect you & that's exactly what happened. Instead of calling this stupid, make ppl around you aware of it."