Digital Arrest, the con that thrives on fear of law enforcement

There is no such thing as Digital Arrest in the law. Call 1930 for help, says Reserve Bank of India

Hyderabad: A family in Noida was recently duped of over Rs 1 crore after they were kept under ‘digital arrest’ for five days by some unknown people who posed as government officials. This is just the latest in the fast-growing number of digital arrest cases in the country.

While for political leaders and business honchos, the CBI and the ED can come calling anytime, and their visits may just be a routine affair, for the common man, this is a scary thing and s/he will do anything to stay out of it.

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Fear of the police and other law enforcement agencies in India is deeply ingrained because of historical and social factors. Encounters with law enforcement can be unpredictable, with concerns over corruption, custodial violence and bureaucratic hurdles creating widespread anxiety about legal trouble.

Despite police making sincere public relations efforts, police stations remain places of last resort rather than the first point of help.

The Reserve Bank of India too keeps sending out messages warning citizens against rising cyberfrauds.

A recent message sent out by the central bank reads, “Are you being threatened with a digital arrest? There is no such thing in the law. Do not share personal or financial information or make payments. Call 1930 for help.”

Last week, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, while releasing the Monetary Policy Committee report, introduced exclusive internet domains — ‘bank.in’ for banks and ‘fin.in’ for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to check such cyberfrauds.

Why the fear works
Scammers posing as law enforcement officials contact victims, claiming they are under investigation for crimes such as money laundering, drug trafficking or tax evasion. They appear on video calls in police uniforms, waving fabricated evidence, and position themselves against a backdrop of an official-looking emblem. Using formal, authoritative language, they convince victims that an arrest is imminent unless they comply. The demands typically involve transferring money, sharing sensitive personal information, or staying on a video call while following instructions.

To enhance credibility, fraudsters sometimes use deepfake videos or AI-generated voices of real officials. The psychological manipulation is so effective that victims, gripped by fear, act without verifying the claims.

According to data from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, India incurred a loss of Rs 11,333 crore due to cyberfraud during the first nine months of 2024.

A lack of legal awareness exacerbates the issue for many people. They do not know their rights or how due process works, making them easy targets for scams. The slow judicial system adds to this fear.

What you must know
The central government has taken a few steps under I4C. These include:

• Setting up Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre

• Launching National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (https://cybercrime.gov.in) to help the public report incidents of cybercrimes

• A toll-free Helpline number 1930 to lodge cyber complaints

• Report and Check Suspect on https://cybercrime.gov.in has a list of cybercriminals

• Setting up of Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre, with major banks, financial intermediaries, payment aggregators, telecom service providers, IT intermediaries and representatives of States/UTs Law Enforcement Agency as stakeholders

• The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) operates an automated cyber threat exchange platform for collecting, analysing and sharing tailored alerts with organisations across sectors

• CERT-In’s National Cyber Coordination Centre generates awareness of existing and potential cyber security threats