Over Rs 3,000 crore lost in digital arrest fraud, Supreme Court calls it a major challenge

The Supreme Court of India on Monday disclosed that more than Rs. 3,000 crore had been scammed from victims, primarily elderly individuals, through digital arrest frauds. A bench led by Justice Surya Kant, who is the Chief Justice of India-designate, referred to a confidential report submitted by the Union Government. Describing the issue as a “very big challenge”, Justice Kant observed, “Much more than we thought".

The report revealed that the magnitude of the fraud was substantial, with Rs. 3,000 crore extorted from victims within India alone. “What would be the suffering at the global level?” Justice Kant remarked. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, concurred that the extent of the scam was far greater than initially believed.

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Justice Kant assured that the judiciary would issue stringent orders to empower investigating agencies against the fraudsters. Mehta noted that the victims were largely aged people and that the problem could intensify without immediate intervention.

Cyber crimes rooted in cross-border syndicates

In a previous hearing, the Supreme Court had suggested assigning the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the growing threat of digital arrests carried out by fraudsters posing as judges and police officers using forged documents. Attorney General R. Venkataramani informed the court that these crimes often originated from across the border and were linked to “money-laundering gangs”.

Mehta further explained that the operations were conducted through “scam compounds” on a large scale. The apex court had earlier taken suo motu cognisance of a case involving the digital arrest of a senior citizen couple in Ambala, Haryana, who were coerced into paying ₹1.05 crore based on forged orders. Subsequent reports revealed that similar incidents were occurring nationwide, with criminals threatening innocent people, particularly senior citizens, with “cyber arrests” unless they paid hefty sums.

According to Mehta, the problem had both financial and human dimensions. He stated that gullible individuals were lured with false promises of employment abroad and reduced to human slavery. He added that criminals used artificial intelligence to morph the faces of judges and create fake courtroom backdrops while intimidating victims.