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Scam Help / Digital arrest scam in India: how it works and what to do if you are on the call

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Digital arrest scam in India: how it works and what to do if you are on the call

A digital arrest scam is a fraud where callers pretend to be police, CBI or customs, say you are under arrest, and keep you on a video call until you send money. Police, CBI, customs, ED and judges do not arrest anyone over a video call, says the I4C advisory of 6 October 2024.

If you are on the call right now: hang up. Do not send money. Do not share any OTP. Then call 1930. The steps are further down this page.

We are a private marketing company running a free public awareness page. We are not the police or a bank, and we cannot recover money. We collect what official sources and court reports say, so you can read it fast.

What is a digital arrest scam?

It is a phone or video call from a stranger who says you are linked to a crime. The caller says they are from a courier firm, the telecom regulator, the police, CBI, customs or the narcotics department.

The hook is always a story about you. A parcel in your name holds drugs or fake passports. Or your Aadhaar, SIM or bank account is tied to money laundering.

The Supreme Court described it in a December 2025 order, as reported by The Tribune, as a form of cyber crime in which fraudsters pose as law enforcement. The word "arrest" is the trick. Nobody is arrested. You are kept scared and kept talking until the money leaves your account.

How does the call run, step by step?

The documented cases below follow almost the same order. Knowing the order is your best protection, because you can spot the step you are in.

  1. Contact. A call, SMS or video call from someone claiming to be a courier company, telecom regulator, police, CBI, customs or narcotics officer.
  2. The hook. You are told a parcel, your Aadhaar, your SIM or your bank account is tied to a crime.
  3. Escalation. You are passed to a "senior officer" or a "judge". Some callers sit in a set built to look like a police station, with uniforms. Forged letters or court orders arrive on your phone.
  4. Isolation. You are told to keep the camera on, stay on the call for hours or days, and tell no one: not family, not the bank, not the police.
  5. Pressure. You are told you will be arrested at once unless you cooperate, and that this is a secret investigation.
  6. Payment. You are told to move savings to a "safe", "verification" or "supervision" account, break fixed deposits, or pay "bail".
  7. Aftermath. The caller vanishes or asks for more. The money is often split across many accounts within hours.

Source: pattern drawn from the documented cases below and the I4C advisory of 6 October 2024 as reported by ETV Bharat.

Do real agencies arrest people over a video call?

No. The I4C advisory of 6 October 2024, as reported by ETV Bharat, says police, CBI, customs, ED and judges do not arrest you on a video call. If someone says you are under digital arrest, treat it as a fraud, hang up, and call 1930.

The same advisory gives the central helpline 1930 and the website www.cybercrime.gov.in for reporting.

The courts have also noticed the forged paperwork. On 17 October 2025 the Supreme Court took notice of digital arrest scams on its own, and was reported by Bar and Bench as alarmed that fraudsters often use forged court orders. Court or police papers sent to you over WhatsApp by a caller who wants you to stay quiet are a red flag.

Source: I4C advisory of 6 October 2024 as reported by ETV Bharat; Bar and Bench, report of 17 October 2025; The Tribune, report of 1 December 2025.

How big is the digital arrest scam in India?

Large, and the numbers do not agree with each other. That is itself worth knowing. MHA told Parliament on 12 March 2025 that police is a State subject and that NCRB does not keep separate data on digital arrest scams. So the figures you see come from different sources and different periods.

YearCases reportedLosses reported
202239,925Rs 91 crore
202360,676Rs 339 crore
20241,23,672Rs 1,918 crore
202517,264Rs 644 crore

Source: ThePrint, citing MHA data, calendar years 2022 to 2025. Figures are as reported by ThePrint.

Other reports count differently. A Verdictum report of the 4 August 2026 Supreme Court order gave 58,239 complaints for 2025, against 17,264 cases in the ThePrint series. Use the source and period, not one national total.

LawBeat, reporting the MHA submission to the Supreme Court, gave 2,746 cases for January to August 2024 and 4,439 for January to August 2025. That moves the other way from the yearly series above. The Verdictum report also mentions 16,377 cases through June 2026.

Whatever the exact count, officials are acting. Per LawBeat, 1,700 Skype IDs and 59,000 WhatsApp accounts were blocked, and MHA set up a high level committee with members from MeitY, DoT, MEA, RBI, CBI, NIA, Delhi Police and I4C.

Source: MHA, Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question 1500, 12 March 2025; LawBeat, report of 10 February 2026; Verdictum, report of the order of 4 August 2026.

Why do educated, careful people fall for it?

Look at who appears in the reported cases: a retired officer, a retired doctor, an 82-year-old. They were put in a situation where calm thinking was made hard.

The script uses fear, a voice of authority and a ticking clock. Cambridge researchers note that society trains people not to question authority and that time pressure pushes people toward less reasoning. It is not about being foolish.

Three of these pressures show up again and again in the reported cases.

If you were fooled, you were up against a script built to rush you. It says nothing about your intelligence.

Source: University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory, Stajano and Wilson, 2009 (seven principles of scams); US Federal Trade Commission, release of 15 June 2026 (calendar year 2025 data); cases as reported by The Tribune, The Bridge Chronicle and Storyboard18, 2025 to 2026.

What do real cases look like?

These cases are anonymised and taken from news reports. The amounts are as reported.

Case 1: Delhi, March 2025, Rs 48.5 lakh reported

What happened. A man got a WhatsApp video call from someone claiming to be from the telecom regulator about a money laundering case. He was passed in turn to a fake police officer, a fake senior investigator and a fake judge, all on continuous video calls. He was kept under watch for over 72 hours, cut off from others, and made to liquidate fixed deposits, PPF and savings. Delhi Police cyber cell later arrested three people and linked the gang to 28 complaints across states.

The tell. Three "officers" in a row, a call that never ended, and an order to cash in savings.

What would have helped. Hanging up at the first mention of money laundering on a video call, and telling someone in the family.

Source: The Tribune, March 2025.

Case 2: Pune, 23 to 31 January 2026, Rs 10.74 crore reported

What happened. An 82-year-old was told a bank account had been opened with his Aadhaar and tied to a criminal case, and that he and his family faced arrest. Callers posing as CBI officers asked him to move savings for "verification". Over about nine days he sent money in repeated transfers. Pune cyber police arrested one accused; three others had been arrested earlier and tracing of funds continues.

The tell. A threat to the whole family, and a request to move savings for "verification".

What would have helped. One conversation with a family member or a call to 1930. Repeated transfers over about nine days also mean there were several chances to stop.

Source: The Bridge Chronicle, 2026.

Case 3: New Delhi, reported 1 April 2026, Rs 13 crore reported

What happened. A 77-year-old retired doctor got a WhatsApp video call from people posing as police and accusing her of money laundering. The callers sat in a set made to look like a police station, staged a fake court hearing with a pretend judge, and kept her on video surveillance for about 16 days, away from outside contact. Only part of the money was recovered; most remains untraced.

The tell. A staged courtroom on a phone screen, and 16 days with no outside contact.

What would have helped. Any contact with the outside world. The isolation was central to the method.

Source: Storyboard18, reported 1 April 2026.

Another reported case: callers posing as law enforcement and telecom officials, using fabricated court orders and video calls, took about Rs 22.9 crore from an elderly person. In January 2026 the Supreme Court issued notice to the Union, RBI, CBI and seven private banks. This is a court petition, and the allegations are as reported by LawBeat.

In a 2025 case, police arrested four people in Rajasthan who acted as money conduits for overseas fraudsters, after a man paid Rs 44.50 lakh to avoid arrest. Part of the money was traced. Source: The Tribune, 2025.

What should I do if I am on the call right now?

Hang up. Do not send money, do not share OTPs, and do not stay on video. Tell someone near you. Then call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in. If you have already paid, call 1930 at once, because the system exists to stop money moving on.

  1. Hang up or end the video call. You do not need permission. The I4C advisory says CBI, police, customs, ED and judges do not arrest you on a video call.
  2. Do not move any money. No "safe account", no "verification", no "bail".
  3. Tell a person. Family, a neighbour, a friend. Secrecy is what the caller relies on. Breaking it ends the script.
  4. Call 1930 and report at www.cybercrime.gov.in. MHA says the reporting system behind 1930 exists to stop money moving on quickly, so report immediately.
  5. Report the number through Sanchar Saathi (Department of Telecommunications), which has a Chakshu option for suspected fraud calls and messages.

Source: I4C advisory of 6 October 2024 as reported by ETV Bharat; MHA, Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question 1500, 12 March 2025; PIB backgrounder on Sanchar Saathi, 2 December 2025.

Can I get my money back?

Not always. For all cyber fraud complaints on the national portal, not digital arrest alone, MHA reported more than Rs 206 crore refunded against more than Rs 56,087 crore reported over financial years 2023-24 to 2025-26. A fast report lets banks place a hold, but refund depends on police and courts.

In the same MHA figures, more than Rs 9,079 crore was marked as lien. Separately, MHA says more than Rs 11,158 crore was saved across more than 32.80 lakh complaints through the reporting system, cumulative from 2021 till 30 June 2026. That is money stopped from moving on, not money handed back to victims.

Source: PIB (Ministry of Home Affairs), 22 July 2026 (financial years 2023-24 to 2025-26) and 28 July 2026 (cumulative till 30 June 2026).

Warning about the second call. After a loss, some people get a new call from a stranger who says they can recover the money for a fee. The US FTC warned in its alert of 3 August 2026 not to trust anyone who contacts you claiming they can recover your lost money. We cannot recover money either, and we will never ask you for a fee.

What to do now

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Common questions

Is digital arrest real in India?

No arrest happens over a video call. The I4C advisory of 6 October 2024, as reported by ETV Bharat, says CBI, police, customs, ED and judges do not arrest anyone on a video call. If someone says you are under digital arrest, treat it as a fraud, hang up, and call 1930.

What should I do if I am on a digital arrest call right now?

Hang up. Do not send money, do not share OTPs, and do not stay on video. Tell someone near you. Then call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in. If you have already paid, call 1930 at once, because the system exists to stop money moving on.

Can I get my money back after a digital arrest scam?

Not always. Across all cyber fraud complaints on the national portal, MHA reported more than Rs 206 crore refunded against more than Rs 56,087 crore reported over financial years 2023-24 to 2025-26. A fast report lets banks place a hold, but refund depends on police and courts.

How many digital arrest cases are there in India?

Sources differ. ThePrint, citing MHA data, reported 1,23,672 digital arrest cases in 2024 and 17,264 in 2025. A Verdictum report of the August 2026 Supreme Court order gave 58,239 complaints for 2025. Use the source and period, not one national total.

Why do educated people fall for digital arrest scams?

The script uses fear, a voice of authority and a ticking clock. Cambridge researchers note that society trains people not to question authority and that time pressure pushes people toward less reasoning. It is not about being foolish.

Sources checked 3 October 2026

Figures are as reported by the named agencies for the periods shown. Reporting rules differ by country, so totals are not directly comparable.