Despite awareness, digital arrest scams are rising & becoming more dangerous

NO other cybercrime has generated as many public awareness campaigns as the ‘digital arrest’ scam. Yet consumers continue to fall for this scam by cybercriminals posing as law enforcement officers. What is of utmost concern is that the number of these crimes is going up exponentially and could well translate into over 300 cases per day.

The number of digital arrest scams and related cybercrimes reported in the country in 2022 was 39,925. This number tripled in 2024 with 1,23,672 cases. The financial loss to the victims also rose from Rs 91.14 crore to Rs 1,935.51 crore. This year, in just the first two months, 17,718 cases were reported, with an estimated loss of Rs 210.21 crore.

Worse, the ‘digital arrests’ are now becoming even more sinister and reprehensible. For example, the criminals are increasingly resorting to “strip search” of the younger victims, ostensibly to check for hidden weapons, recording devices, narcotics and even birthmarks and tattoos!

In July this year, a 46-year-old resident of Bengaluru was forced to strip naked in front of the camera while under ‘digital arrest’. In November last year, a 26-year-old Mumbai woman faced a similar ordeal. A month prior to that, a 28-year-old Ahmedabad woman was forced to disrobe, so also a Mumbai lawyer in September.

In all these cases, the women were under ‘digital arrest’ by fraudsters masquerading as law enforcement officials who threatened them with fake charges of involvement in money laundering or child pornography or narcotic drugs. They were forced to part with their savings in order to evade “physical arrest” and clear the false charges. Subsequently, their nude pictures were sent to them, threatening to circulate these unless they paid.

In many such cases, the psychological trauma experienced by the victims is such that they do not want to report the crime at all. This is where a non-profit platform like CopConnect comes in, to give psychological support to the victims and help them lodge a police complaint. Meant to bridge the gap between cybercrime victims and law enforcement officials, CopConnect offers help to write the complaint.

The platform also connects victims, through its app, with cybercrime psychologists for counselling, cybercrime lawyers for any legal assistance, besides technical experts. And it is all free of cost.

An initiative of Information Sharing and Analysis Centre (ISAC), a non-profit working in the area of cybersecurity, the CopConnect app also connects consumers with cyber experts to quickly identify scams. Through the app, many consumers have saved themselves from the horror of digital arrest by checking the veracity of the claims made by cybercriminals posing as police officers. Group Captain P Anand Naidu (retd), director of ISAC and co-founder, CopConnect, says that today, mere awareness about crimes like digital arrest is not enough. What is needed is alertness and presence of mind. Their education programmes are, therefore, aimed at helping consumers identify online threats and build safe digital habits.

One of the latest digital arrest victims that CopConnect is helping is a college student who was held in digital arrest for 30 hours. When the criminals realised that she did not have any money, one of the fraudsters pretended to help her and asked her to shut the computer. But later, it turned into a sextortion racket. Priyanka Vaidyanath, head, CopConnect, says the girl had gone through such harrowing experience by the time she connected with them that she needed to be counselled to overcome her fear and lodge a police complaint.

The ‘digital arrest’ scams are also taking away lives and that is another matter of great concern. Last month, a retired doctor in Hyderabad died after a heart attack during a ‘digital arrest’ that had already lasted three days and a loss of Rs 6.6 lakh. In Belagavi in Karnataka, an elderly couple committed suicide this March, unable to bear the demand for more money in similar circumstances. In July, a 48-year-old resident of Bengaluru, a victim of ‘digital arrest’, hung himself.

Compared to the extent of the crime and the devastation that it is causing, the response of the state governments is anything but adequate. Also, there is an urgent need to equip the local police with sufficient technology and personnel to tackle the increasing complexities of these transnational cybercrimes. It is also important to tweak the laws such as the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita to provide for more stringent punishment to the perpetrators.

In most of these cases of digital arrest, the criminals have full financial information about the victim, including his/her bank accounts, Aadhaar card number and PAN number. Obviously, there are data breaches at several places and these need to be plugged urgently. Banks, telecom companies have all been too complacent and need to be more responsible and serious in preventing such crimes. In short, there is an urgent need for a coordinated effort by all agencies to do whatever it takes to protect consumers.

— The writer is a consumer affairs expert