What Is Digital Arrest? How India's Video-Call Scam Works and What to Do

‘Digital arrest’ is a scam. Callers posing as police, CBI, customs or telecom officials say you're linked to a crime, then keep you on a video call ‘under arrest’ until you transfer money. The Prime Minister said in October 2024 that there is no provision for digital arrest under Indian law and that investigating agencies never make inquiries by phone or video call.

How the call runs

The home ministry's 2024 alert describes one common script. A caller says a parcel in your name holds drugs, fake passports or other contraband, then hands you to a ‘police officer’, and the victim is made to stay visible on Skype or another video platform until their demands are met. The alert says the callers sit in studios dressed up as police stations, and the alert traces the operations to cross-border crime syndicates.

Some callers add forged documents. In the case that brought the Supreme Court in, a retired couple received orders carrying the Court's name and paid ₹1,05,50,000 over two weeks in September 2025.

Signs that point to a scam

You're asked to move money into a Reserve Bank account for checking. RBI says it holds no accounts for individuals.

What officials advise

The Prime Minister's three steps were ‘Stop, Think, Take Action’: pause, think it over, then record the call or take a screenshot and report it. The home ministry's alert asks people to report such calls on the 1930 helpline or cybercrime.gov.in.

Where money has been sent, the home ministry's 2021 release describes the helpline opening a ticket that goes to the banks involved so the money can be held; the person reporting gets an acknowledgement number and a request to file full details on cybercrime.gov.in within 24 hours. The steps of the portal form, and the Reserve Bank's reporting deadlines for bank customers, are in our guide to filing a cyber crime complaint.

Where no money was lost, the number or WhatsApp ID can go to Chakshu on the Sanchar Saathi portal, the Department of Telecommunications' tool for reporting suspected fraud calls and messages. The same release says spoofed international calls showing Indian numbers have been used in fake digital arrests.

How common it is

Reports are falling. Figures put before the Supreme Court in August 2026 show digital arrest complaints on the national reporting portal going from 1,23,672 in 2024 to 58,239 in 2025, and 16,377 in the first half of 2026. In a March 2025 reply to Parliament, the home ministry said it had blocked 3,962 Skype IDs and 83,668 WhatsApp accounts used in these scams.

Where the Supreme Court case stands

The Court opened its own case in October 2025 after the forged-order fraud. In December 2025 it made the CBI the main investigating agency and allowed it to investigate bankers where mule accounts (accounts used to receive victims' money) were opened. Its order of 29 October 2026 records that the Reserve Bank's coming rules are to require banks and other institutions to compensate victims with no less than the amount lost where their due diligence failed. Those rules hadn't been notified when the order was made. The same order lists the case again on 23 November 2026 and gives RBI until 30 November 2026 to notify its new know-your-customer (KYC) directions. The bench's remarks in court are covered in a separate report on the 29 October hearing.