A 22-year-old IT professional in Pune allegedly died by suicide, with his family suspecting harassment by cyber fraudsters involved in a digital arrest scam. Police are investigating the case and examining financial transactions.
The Enforcement Directorate has made its sixth arrest, Mukesh Kumar Pukhraj Jain, in a pan-India cyber fraud and digital arrest case involving transactions worth Rs 30,000 crore. Jain is accused of acting as an RTGS agent for the criminal network. The probe, initiated by a Goa Police FIR, uncovered a vast money laundering operation across 20 states, with funds converted into foreign currency and linked to numerous shell companies.
Delhi Police have arrested 11 individuals involved in multiple "digital-arrest" scams, recovering over Rs 12 crore. The scams, linked to handlers in Southeast Asia, have affected 78 complainants nationwide, totaling Rs 73 crore. A retired scientist was defrauded of Rs 1.25 crore, with the entire amount frozen. The investigation uncovered a network arranging mule bank accounts and using cryptocurrency for commissions.
A businessman from Vrindavan, Ratan Lal Agarwal, was defrauded of Rs 30 lakh in a "digital arrest" scam. A cyber fraudster, posing as an ATS officer, threatened Agarwal with a criminal case linked to his wife's mobile number and kept him under constant surveillance, coercing him into transferring the money. Police have registered a case and frozen part of the scammed amount.
Mumbai Cyber Police have apprehended six individuals, including an IIT graduate and a bank manager, for allegedly defrauding a senior citizen of Rs 1.12 crore through a "digital arrest" scam. The victim was coerced into transferring funds after being threatened with family arrest by impersonators.
A man from Kochi has been arrested in connection with a 'digital arrest' scam that defrauded a retired judge in Rajasthan of Rs 2.5 crore. The accused allegedly threatened the judge with false links to hawala transactions and the Pulwama case, leading to his apprehension in a coordinated police operation.
The Delhi Police's Financial Monitoring Cell prevented potential losses of Rs 1.53 crore in "digital arrest" scams across five states. Their Proactive Victim Identification and Protection Team intervened to save multiple victims, including senior citizens, from transferring additional money to fraudsters who impersonated officials and threatened arrest for fabricated crimes.
The CBI has arrested three individuals, including an IndusInd Bank assistant manager, in connection with a Rs 1.6 crore "digital arrest" scam. The arrests followed searches in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Chief Justice of India expresses concern over the increasing number of digital arrest scams, highlighting a recent case where an elderly woman was defrauded of her retirement benefits.
A 72-year-old retired nurse in Nagpur was cheated of Rs 90.65 lakh by cyber criminals who kept her under 'digital arrest' for several weeks, police said.
The CBI has filed a chargesheet against a man accused of defrauding a retired banker of Rs 23 crore in a sophisticated digital arrest scam involving impersonation of law enforcement and judicial authorities.
A 61-year-old man from Mangaluru was allegedly cheated of Rs 2.07 crore by cyber fraudsters posing as officials of central investigative agencies in a 'digital arrest' scam, police said.
Two individuals from Hyderabad have been arrested in connection with a 'digital arrest' scam in Belagavi, where an 81-year-old businessman was defrauded of over Rs 15 crore.
Gurugram police have arrested five individuals in connection with a Rs 42.92 lakh digital arrest scam. The fraudsters posed as CBI officers, intimidated a victim, and coerced them into transferring a large sum of money. The arrested individuals include account holders and those who withdrew the defrauded cash.
An 82-year-old woman in Thane, Maharashtra, was allegedly defrauded of 73.3 lakh in a 'digital arrest' scam after fraudsters posing as law enforcement officials threatened to implicate her in a fake terror case.
A 62-year-old farmer from Dakshina Kannada district was digitally arrested and duped of Rs 1.31 crore by cybercriminals impersonating Mumbai police and ATS officers. The fraudsters coerced him into transferring money by falsely claiming he was involved in a terror attack. A case has been registered, and investigation is ongoing.
Senior citizens are particularly vulnerable due to their high savings, trust in authorities, and limited familiarity with online frauds.
Two men from Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan have been arrested for allegedly duping a Delhi resident of Rs 6 lakh in a digital arrest cyber fraud. The accused impersonated law enforcement officials, threatened the victim, and induced him to transfer money. Investigations revealed links to multiple other cyber fraud complaints and a Cambodia-linked digital trail.
A 64-year-old man from Thane was allegedly defrauded of 1.56 crore by cybercriminals using a 'digital arrest' scam, involving forged documents and constant surveillance.
The agency also ran a parallel investigation into cyber-slavery and the organised digital exploitation networks in Southeast Asia, with slave compounds in Myanmar and neighbouring areas, that are emerging as incubators for the execution of such frauds.
The Supreme Court has directed the CBI to conduct a pan-India investigation into digital arrest scams and questioned the RBI about its lack of AI usage in detecting and freezing accounts used by cybercriminals.
Kochi city cyber police have recovered over 1 crore stolen from an 81-year-old man through a 'digital arrest' online fraud. The incident occurred in November when the man was defrauded of around 1.30 crore. Police intervention led to the recovery of 1.06 crore from a bank in Jammu and Kashmir.
Delhi Police have dismantled an interstate cyber fraud network, arresting three individuals involved in digital arrest and investment scams that defrauded victims of over Rs 80 lakh.
Three individuals, including a woman, have been arrested in Maharashtra's Beed district for allegedly defrauding a man of 23.42 lakh by threatening him with 'digital arrest'.
Delhi Police have arrested six individuals linked to interstate cybercrime syndicates involved in digital arrest, fake IPO, and trading scams, recovering millions of rupees.
Mumbai police have arrested six individuals from Gujarat, dismantling an interstate cyber fraud gang involved in digital arrest scams, including one where a businessman was defrauded of Rs 58 crore.
Gurugram police have arrested two individuals, Mohammad Saif Ali and Saurabh Kumar, for their involvement in a Rs 78 lakh digital arrest cyber fraud. The victim was coerced into transferring money after being intimidated by a scammer posing as a police officer. Investigations revealed that one of the accused's bank accounts, used to receive defrauded funds, was linked to 52 other fraudulent transactions.
The Supreme Court of India will hear a suo motu case concerning victims of digital arrest, a growing form of cybercrime where fraudsters impersonate officials to extort money from victims.
The Supreme Court has expressed serious concern over the rising cases of digital arrest cybercrime in India, where fraudsters extort money from victims by posing as law enforcement officials. The court has vowed to deal with such cases with an iron hand and has sought reports from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the CBI.
The advisory depicted the logos of social media platforms like WhatsApp and Skype to showcase that calls for such scams are made using such platforms.
Gurugram Police have arrested a man from Hapur, Uttar Pradesh, for his alleged involvement in an Rs 8.30 lakh cyber fraud. The accused provided his bank account, which was used to receive the cheated amount from a victim who was subjected to a "digital arrest" by fraudsters impersonating government officials. The investigation is ongoing to trace other individuals involved.
Gurugram Police have arrested a man from Hapur, Uttar Pradesh, for his alleged involvement in an Rs 8.30 lakh cyber fraud. The accused provided his bank account, which was used to receive the cheated amount from a victim who was subjected to a "digital arrest" by fraudsters impersonating government officials. The investigation is ongoing to trace other individuals involved.
The Karnataka Cyber Command Unit has busted an illegal SIM box network operating from two apartments in Bengaluru's Whitefield division, leading to four arrests. The network is suspected of facilitating digital-arrest scams, sextortion, and other financial cyber frauds across India, with potential financial exposure running into hundreds of crores of rupees. Investigations are ongoing to establish the full extent of the network and its links to the e-SIM supply chain.
A graphic designer, Pankaj Gupta, was arrested by Mumbai Crime Branch for creating malicious Android Package Kit (APK) files that enabled cyber fraudsters to cheat over 9,600 people of Rs 150 crore. Gupta, who previously escaped a digital arrest scam, developed APKs disguised as government services, selling them to cybercriminal networks in Bihar and Jharkhand.
'Digital arrests are the cutting edge of the problem and the most challenging part of the ecosystem right now.'
A BJP MLC in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, has filed a complaint alleging he was held under 'digital arrest' by individuals posing as Mumbai ATS officers.
In the latest case, the fraudsters, posing as personnel of the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation, contacted the businessmen between August 19 to October 8 and claimed his name had cropped up in a case of money laundering.
A 39-year-old software engineer in Bengaluru lost Rs 11.8 crore to fraudsters who impersonated police officials and claimed his Aadhaar card was being misused for money laundering. The victim was threatened with "digital arrest" and tricked into transferring money to various bank accounts over a period of time, believing his family would be arrested if he didn't comply. The fraud occurred between November 25 and December 12, and police have registered a case under the IT Act and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for cheating and cheating by impersonation. Further investigation is underway.
Do not share OTPs, PINs, authentication codes, card numbers, card verification values (CVVs), KYC details, security answers, Internet-banking passwords or Aadhaar-based authentication credentials through SMS, e-mail or phone calls.
A frozen phone screen, a fake customer-care call, a screen-sharing request or even a duplicate SIM can give cybercriminals a route into your bank account.
