‘Lost Money, Mental Health’: YouTuber Ankush Bahuguna Faces 'Digital Arrest' Scam

Popular content creator Ankush Bahuguna was allegedly held under 'digital arrest' by scammers for about 40 long hours. "I am still in a little bit of shock. I have lost money. I have lost my mental health to this. I can't believe this happened to me," he recounted in a recent social media post. In the now-viral video, he shared his traumatic experience of being manipulated and defrauded, urging netizens to stay aware. The YouTuber assured his followers that he was now safe.

What Happened To Ankush Bahuguna?

Ankush Bahuguna shared in a social media video, "Sharing this, so others don’t have to go through what I went through," adding that he wished to spread awareness about this recently common cybercrime. "I feel so lucky to have friends with such strong instincts who noticed a change in my behaviour even when I was sending ‘I’m okay’ texts," he said.

"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... I was under 'digital arrest' for about 40 hours... A lot of times these scams happen, you figure it out in a few seconds. But, if you are someone like me who falls for it, this is how bad it can get," a visibly shaken Bahuguna expressed.

Bahuguna narrated that he got a call from a 'very weird', seemingly international number claiming to have found an 'illegal substance' in a package he had allegedly sent. "It was an automated call that said your courier delivery had been cancelled. Press zero for support. Now, I haven't sent anything, but I pressed zero. Biggest mistake of my life."

Bahuguna continued, "Customer support answers. He told me 'Sir, aapke package mein illegal saaman pakda gaya hai,'" Bahuguna recalled. "He told me that I was sending a package to China and customs have seized it now. I got scared, I said I hadn't sent anything. But he said that my name, my Aadhar number, everything is mentioned in the package."

He added that the fraudsters coerced him by using his private details against him. "This is a very serious crime, and now you will be under digital arrest... There is an arrest warrant already in your name," Bahuguna alerted his followers. "These scammers do their research and tell you things they know will affect you. I don’t wish this on anyone," he said.

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A post shared by Wing It with Ankush Bahuguna (@wingitwithankush)

Bahuguna added in a comment, "To everyone saying how could you fall for it it’s a scam - 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 to this scam. These people do research on you & tell you things they know will affect you & that’s exactly what happened."