India's Chief Justice expresses alarm over the increasing prevalence of digital arrest scams, where fraudsters impersonate law enforcement to extort money from victims.
Key Points
- Chief Justice of India expresses shock at the rise of digital arrest scams targeting even well-educated individuals.
- The Supreme Court is hearing a suo motu case regarding digital arrests and is pushing for a standard operating procedure to combat cyber fraud.
- An elderly woman was recently defrauded of her entire retirement benefit in a digital arrest scam, highlighting the severity of the issue.
- The Supreme Court has directed the CBI to investigate digital arrest cases and asked the RBI to use AI to trace fraudulent bank accounts.
- The RBI has drafted a standard operating procedure for banks to prevent cyber-enabled fraud, including temporary debit holds.
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Monday said it was shocking that well-educated people were getting duped in cases of digital arrests.
The CJI, who was heading a bench which also comprised Justice Joymalya Bagchi, flagged the recent case of an old woman who was duped of her entire retirement benefits in one of such cases.
Supreme Court Addresses Digital Arrest Menace
The observations came from the CJI after Attorney General R Venkataramani mentioned the suo motu case concerning victims of digital arrest before the bench.
"Meeting have taken place. We are moving very fast," the top law officer said, while requesting the bench to take up the suo motu case for hearing on May 12.
The CJI then referred to the case of the elderly woman whom he knows in his official capacity.
"Unfortunately, her entire retiral benefit has been duped," the CJI said.
Growing Concerns Despite Court Intervention
One of the advocates told the bench that it was most unfortunate that despite the apex court hearing a suo motu case regarding digital arrest, such incidents were continuously coming to light.
"It is shocking that well-educated people are getting duped like this," the CJI observed.
The bench said it would list the matter for hearing on May 12.
Understanding Digital Arrest Cybercrime
Digital arrest is a growing form of cybercrime in which fraudsters pose as law enforcement officers, court officials or personnel from government agencies to intimidate victims through audio and video calls. They hold the victims hostage and put pressure on them to pay money.
On February 9, the top court described the siphoning of more than Rs 54,000 crore by digital frauds as absolute "robbery or dacoity" and asked the Centre to draft a standard operating procedure (SoP) in consultation with stakeholders like the RBI, banks and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to deal with such cases.
Measures To Combat Digital Fraud
The apex court had expressed grave concern over the "menace" of digital arrest scams and said banks must play a proactive role in preventing cyber-enabled fraud.
It had directed the CBI to identify digital arrest cases and asked the Gujarat and Delhi governments to accord sanction to the federal probe agency to proceed with the investigations in identified cases.
It had also asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the DoT, and others to jointly hold a meeting to come up with a framework for providing compensation in digital arrest cases.
The attorney general had informed the bench that the RBI has drafted an SoP for banks to deal with such cases and it, among other things, prescribes action by the banks where temporary debit holds can be placed to prevent cyber-enabled frauds.
Issuing a slew of directions, the top court had asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to formally adopt the RBI's SoP and issue directions for its implementation across the country.
On December 1, the top court asked the CBI to carry out a unified pan-India probe into digital arrest cases, and asked the RBI why it was not using artificial intelligence to trace and freeze bank accounts used by cyber criminals.
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