The Supreme Court has expressed serious concerns about the rise in digital fraud, particularly digital arrest scams, and has directed the central government to develop a standard operating procedure to combat these crimes.
It said that when a retiree, who withdraws amounts in the range of Rs 10,000 or Rs 20,000, suddenly withdraws huge amounts, then the bank should issue an alert.
The Supreme Court has appointed former Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna as the sole mediator to resolve a dispute involving businessman Ashokbhai Haribhai Gajera and others in a case linked to textile market projects in Surat. The case involves allegations of siphoning off Rs 1,900 crore and forging documents.
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.
The Supreme Court has directed the Reserve Bank of India to prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) within four weeks to deal with bank accounts linked to cyber frauds, including mule accounts. This directive is part of a broader effort to strengthen responses to cyber-enabled financial frauds, with the court also urging states and UTs to adopt and operationalise grievance redressal and money restoration modules.
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 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.
The highest number of frauds was reported under the card, Internet, and digital payments categories in FY24 and FY25. 'Advances' accounted for the largest share (85.5 per cent) in FY26.
The CBI has registered a case and taken over the investigation of a Rs 10 crore 'digital arrest' scam in Delhi, where a retired engineer was allegedly cheated by cyber-criminals posing as courier company and police officials.
Gujarat CID has arrested Rafiqul Alam, the alleged 'mastermind' behind 1,090 cybercrimes totalling Rs 1,071.5 crore, who was found to have links with China-based criminals and converted illicit funds into cryptocurrencies.
Delhi Police have arrested three individuals from Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh for allegedly providing mule bank accounts used to route over Rs 1.22 crore in proceeds from various cyber fraud schemes.
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.
The amount involved in banking system frauds surged to Rs 21,515 crore in the first half of FY26, up 30 per cent from the same period last year, even as the number of frauds fell 2.8 times to 5,092.
The government on Tuesday summoned a top Meta executive after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent post addressing India's youth and promising stringent measures against paper leaks was briefly restricted by Facebook, and although the US-headquartered social media giant blamed it on a technical glitch and apologised, the IT Ministry found the explanation "inadequate".
The CBI conducted searches at 77 locations across eight states, registering 22 new cases related to a nexus between builders and financial institutions, allegedly defrauding homebuyers.
The caller told the victim that a bank account linked to his mobile number had allegedly received Rs 7 crore through money laundering activities and warned that he would be arrested in the case.
The Supreme Court has directed the government to raise awareness, compensate, and protect vulnerable individuals who have lost money in cyber scams. The court's remarks came while granting bail to an accused in a cybercrime case, emphasizing the need for public education and cybersecurity awareness.
Senior citizens are particularly vulnerable due to their high savings, trust in authorities, and limited familiarity with online frauds.
The Supreme Court has restrained lower courts from releasing the accused in a digital arrest fraud case where a 72-year-old lawyer was duped of Rs 3.29 crore. The court expressed concern over the growing cybercrime and the targeting of elderly citizens.
The accused, who duped the woman of Rs 6.60 lakh during the ordeal between September 5 and 8, continued to send messages even after her death on September 8.
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 Chhattisgarh government has introduced a bill aimed at preventing religious conversions through force, inducement, or misrepresentation, sparking opposition and debate in the state assembly.
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.
Fraud reported by banks declined in 2024-2025 to 23,953 as compared to 36,060 in the previous year though the amount involved jumped to Rs 36,014 crore from Rs 12,230 crore.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) reports a decline in traditional financial crimes due to sustained investigative actions and government initiatives, while highlighting emerging challenges like cryptocurrency fraud and terror financing.
The overall number of frauds, including those related to loan accounts and digital payments, jumped by three times in FY25, primarily due to reclassification of 122 cases as per a Supreme Court order, the Reserve Bank said on Thursday. The fraud value jumped to Rs 36,014 crore in FY25, up from Rs 12,230 crore in the previous fiscal year, while the number of fraud cases went down to 23,953 in FY25 from 36,060 in FY24.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Ayush Varshney, co-founder of Darwin Labs, in connection with the 200 million Gain Bitcoin cryptocurrency scam. Varshney was apprehended while attempting to flee the country.
The Supreme Court is considering entrusting the CBI with the investigation into digital arrest cases, citing the magnitude and pan-India spread of such crimes. The court has sought details of FIRs registered in different states and union territories and is monitoring the progress of the investigation.
"We did not know that a CBI inquiry was requested on our behalf regarding the Karur tragedy. It has been nine years since my husband Panneerselvam, who had signed the petition, abandoned us," says Sharmila, mother of the 9-year-old boy who had lost his life in the stampede during a political rally addressed by actor-politician Vijay.
A retired banker in Delhi lost his entire life savings, amounting to Rs 23 crore, to cyber fraudsters who posed as ED and CBI officers. The victim was kept under 'digital arrest' for over a month and forced to transfer funds under duress.
'Instead of the government and telecom operators solving the mess of their own creation, they're telling us we need to give access to our phones perpetually.'
'The protection of secrecy and anonymity gets lost with this linking.'
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have intensified their investigations against Gaurav Mehta, a suspect in a Bitcoin Ponzi scam, following allegations that politicians may have been involved in using cryptocurrency to influence Maharashtra assembly polls. The ED searched Mehta's residence in Raipur and seized computers and digital devices. The CBI summoned him to appear before investigators. The ED is probing Mehta's potential links to politicians, politically exposed persons, and bureaucrats as part of its money laundering probe. The allegations came after BJP released purported voice notes suggesting that Congress and NCP leaders were attempting to use cryptocurrency for election campaigning. Both parties denied the claims, calling the voice notes fake.
The Bill allows stopping of transmission and intercepting messages in case of public emergency, in the interest of the public, to prevent incitement for committing offence.
He said the Aadhaar programme violated informational privacy, self-determination and data protection.
The UIDAI said it is "contemplating a legal action" against ZDNet, on the issue.
India is on the brink of overhauling its tax system, implementing the BEPS project and seeing a further evolution of the GST at the same time as a general election. This makes 2019 an exciting and challenging year, note Maulik Doshi and Jigar Doshi.
'It has also saved the government about $ 9 billion in fraud and wastage because by having that unique number you eliminate fakes and duplicates from your beneficiary and employee list,' Nilekani said at an event on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Don't share information over phone with anyone. Use only official apps. Keep Aadhaar locked unless needed.
The apex court's five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said Aadhaar is meant to help benefits reach the marginalised sections of the society and takes into account the dignity of people not only from personal but also from community point of view.
