Actor Nagarjuna spoke to the press after the arrest of iBomma pirate website admin, Immadi Ravi. Talking about the rise of cybercrime, he revealed that a family member of his was recently held in a fraudulent ‘digital arrest’ for two whole days before they sought police help. Here’s what happened. (Also Read: Chiranjeevi rues Game Changer, OG facing box office losses due to piracy: How HIT 3 leak led to iBomma crackdown)

Nagarjuna’s family member held in digital arrest

Recently, there has been a surge in a type of cybercrime in which fraudsters impersonate law enforcement or government officials to intimidate victims through audio or video calls, and then hold them under ‘digital arrest’ to extort money. Nagarjuna reveals that one of his family members also went through this six months ago.

Talking to the press, he said, “I remember in my own house, about six months ago, the same thing happened. One of my family members was digitally arrested for almost two days. These organisations (fraudulent) will track us and attempt to identify our weaknesses. My family member had to approach the police. When the police came online, they logged off in a second and couldn’t even be traced.”

A police official told PTI that no complaint was filed by Nagarjuna regarding the incident.

The iBomma shutdown and arrest

Nagarjuna also lauded police commissioner VC Sajjanar and his team for arresting the man behind the iBomma website, as well as other individuals who had committed film piracy over the last few years. He explained why, although it seems like a good idea to watch films for free online, it’s usually a trap that collects personal data.

“It is just a trap that they are showing you movies for free. They hold no interest in that. They have a bigger plan, and there’s a bigger conspiracy at play. This is a huge international racket to collect personal data and exploit people. Like Rajamouli said, nothing is free, and like Sajjanar said, piracy is illegal. Please be careful,” said the actor.

Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, SS Rajamouli and Dil Raju met the Hyderabad city police on Monday to thank them following the arrests.