Understanding the concept

Digital arrest is a scam where cybercriminals extort money from individuals by impersonating law enforcement officials. They use threats of arrest, frozen bank accounts, and passport cancellations to induce victims into paying a “fine” or “security deposit” to avoid legal action. Several victims have lost large amounts of money to such criminals.

Common modus operandi

The cybercriminals use a pattern to carry out the digital arrest scam. According to an advisory released by the cybercrime wing of the central government, here are some of the most common ways in which scammers target people:

1) Fake calls, impersonation: Scammers call people pretending to be officers from government agencies like Mumbai/Delhi Police, CBI, Narcotics Department, RBI, Telecom Department, or the Enforcement Directorate. They even use spoofed numbers to make the call look real.

2) Scaring the victim: They accuse the person of being involved in illegal activities like sending/receiving drugs, fake passports, SIM cards through courier services, misuse of their Aadhaar or mobile number, receiving money from criminals, money laundering, terrorism, etc. Sometimes they even claim that a family member is in trouble or caught in a crime.

3) Digital confinement: Some victims are forced to stay on continuous video calls on Skype or WhatsApp. Scammers set up a fake “police station” background to convince the victim they are real officers and keep them under pressure until they obey.4) Demand for money: The scammers demand money, either to “close” the fake case or to avoid exposing the victim in these false legal matters.

Recent cases

1) A 71-year-old woman in Delhi was held under “digital arrest” for nearly 24 hours and threatened, isolated, and psychologically coerced into transferring Rs 49 lakh by fraudsters impersonating police officers.

2) A 68-year-old man in Faridabad’s Ballabgarh was scammed out of Rs 81 lakh by cyber fraudsters posing as police and CBI officials.

3) A man allegedly died by suicide on November 17 after being held in digital arrest for a day by a cyber fraudster. The criminal had contacted the man, identifying himself as Inspector Gaurav Grover of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Delhi and threatening him with arrest in an alleged Rs 40 crore narcotics scam.

4) In September, a senior citizen couple from Ambala, Haryana, who were defrauded of Rs 1 crore. The victims were allegedly contacted by fraudsters posing as officials of the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, and even the Supreme Court, who showed forged judicial orders and threatened them with arrest and seizure of property. Following this incident, the Supreme Court had taken suo moto cognizance of this issue.

5) A 57-year-old IT professional from Bengaluru allegedly lost Rs 31.83 crore to a ‘digital arrest’ fraud over six months, said to be the highest amount lost by a single victim in Karnataka to this kind of scam. The Bengaluru East Cyber Crime, Economic Offences and Narcotics (CEN) police filed an FIR based on her complaint on November 14.

‘Not recognised in law’

In the absence of a dedicated Act addressing digital arrests, there may arise some ambiguity about which legal provisions will be applied in such cases.

Speaking to the Indian Express, Alay Razvi, Managing Partner, Accord Juris, said digital arrest scams are not recognised by law, so they are treated as offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the IT Act, 2000.

Cyberlaw expert Prashant Mali said such scams are usually booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) provisions on cheating, extortion, intimidation, and impersonation particularly Sections dealing with criminal intimidation and extortion while the IT Act steps in through Sections 66C (identity theft), 66D (cheating by personation using computer resources), and 67/67B where coercive digital content is used.

Digital arrests are not not a statutory concept, but every element of the scam is already punishable under existing law, advocate Raheel Patel from Gandhi Law Associates pointed out.

Advocate Shiv Sapra, Partner, Kochhar & Co., on the other hand, noted that the cases of digital arrest can be termed as wrongful confinement, punishable under Section 127 of the BNS.

“Since there is no concept of digital arrest under Indian law, these actions can at best be termed as wrongful confinement which is a punishable offence under Section 127 of the BNS,” he said.Supreme Court lawyer and Managing Partner, ASL Partners, Abhinay Sharma said, “Though there is no standalone law titled “Digital Arrest Scam Act”, a mix of cyber- law, impersonation, cheating, intimidation and organised crime provisions equip law enforcement and courts to treat “digital arrest” as serious criminal fraud.”

Legal safeguards

Digital arrest scams can cause not only financial loss but it can also result in mental agony. However, it’s important for people to be aware about the fact that there are legal safeguards that they can employ in case of such incidents.

Mali said such victims must immediately disconnect, avoid sharing data, and report the incident to 1930 (National Cybercrime Helpline) or cybercrime.gov.in.

He also pointed out that victims can lodge an FIR under relevant BNS and IT Act sections and banks should be alerted as well.

An FIR can be registered under relevant BNS and IT Act sections, and banks must be alerted within the golden hour to freeze fraudulent transactions. The law empowers victims; awareness empowers them faster. As I often say, in cybercrime, hesitation is the real enemy,” Mali said.

Patel highlighted that no Indian agency is permitted to interrogate, detain or threaten anyone through WhatsApp/Skype. He added that in case of such calls, the person may simply disconnect, verify the officer’s identity with the local police control room, and refuse all demands.

He stressed on preserving all screenshots, call logs and videos in case the money is lost, apart from lodging FIR.

“If money is lost, the immediate remedies are – lodge a complaint on 1930, file an FIR at the nearest police station, notify the bank to freeze the transaction, and preserve all screenshots, call logs and videos,” Patel suggested.

Advocate Kapil Arora from Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, stressed on the need to have awareness.

“The first step is awareness. Be very clear that there is no provision in Indian law that allows a digital arrest. If this threat of digital arrest is received, ask basic questions to the person like the identity card of the person, his/ her rank, police station etc.,” he said.

He also said taking the picture of the person impersonating will enable the police to take actions including tracing the perpetrators.

Sapra said banks have become well-versed with such incidents with some even offering post facto protection to customers.

He also pointed out that since many victims are senior citizens, fear and intimidation often paralyse any protective steps, especially golden-hour reporting.

Advocate Sharma stressed on staying calm in such situations and staying aware that no agency arrests on phone or video. He advised against transferring any money, sharing OTP/banking details or complying with their “instructions.”

Sharma further said that victims should ask banks to flag/freeze suspect transactions or accounts.
He emphasised on alerting family or close contacts about the incident as such scams often rely on isolation of victims (fear, shame, secrecy).

“Such scams often rely on isolation of victims (fear, shame, secrecy). Ensuring someone else knows quickly can add a layer of protection,” Sharma said.

Role of law enforcement agencies

Considering the rising cases of digital arrest, it calls for comprehensive steps to be taken by the law enforcement agencies.

Mali pointed out that nationwide police forces are moving from reactive firefighting to proactive intelligence-driven disruption.

“Police forces nationwide, along with CERT-In and MHA, are moving from reactive firefighting to proactive intelligence-driven disruption. Call-centre crackdowns, coordination with international agencies, blockchain-based fund-tracing, mandatory KYC audits of telecom/VoIP operators, and AI led pattern detection are now routine,” he said.

Patel pointed out that the law enforcement agencies are treating the issue as an organised cyber extortion.

“Cyber cells are issuing public alerts, MHA’s I4C is blocking SIM farms and spoofed VoIP routes, banks are executing rapid fund-freezing through the national fraud reporting platform, and telecom operators now flag suspicious international scam calls,” he said.

Sapra mentioned that advanced forensics, data analytics and joint operations across states has played a crucial role in cyber fraud mitigation efforts.

“Law enforcement agencies have traced networks of mule accounts used to launder or funnel extorted monies. Reliance on advanced forensics, data analytics and joint operations across States have aided in cyber fraud mitigation efforts,” he said.

He also highlighted that large scale awareness campaigns have led to alerting and sensitising citizens against such scams.

Advocate Sharma pointed out that the Central Government has introduced a new feature titled as ‘Report and Check Suspect’ on https://cybercrime.gov.in. This facility provides citizens a search option to search I4C’s repository of identifiers of cyber criminals through ‘Suspect Search’.

He also said that the ‘National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal’ (https://cybercrime.gov.in) has been launched, as a part of the I4C, to enable the public to report incidents pertaining to all types of cyber-crimes.

Crucial rulings

Courts across the country, including the Supreme Court, have flagged the issue of digital arrest in their rulings.

Mali highlighted the case where the Supreme Court condemned the brazen use of forged SC orders with fake seals and signatures.

Referring to the verdict in Re: Victims of Digital Arrest Related to Forged Documents, Mali said the Supreme Court condemned the brazen use of forged SC orders complete with fake seals and signatures as a “direct assault on the majesty of this institution”.

“Judicial awakening always brings kranti at a rapid pace I feel and that’s the need of the hour with constant awareness and international police action on gangsta leaders,” he said.

Razvi said the Supreme Court’s direction to CBI shows the urgent need for stronger cyber-fraud laws.

“The Supreme Court’s recent direction asking the CBI to investigate these scams, now causing losses of over ₹3,000 crore, shows the urgent need for stronger cyber-fraud laws, even as authorities continue blocking scam platforms through the I4C,” Razvi said.