Digital arrest scams cost Indians ₹4,057 crore since 2022

Indians lost ₹4,057.7 crore to digital arrest scams between 2022 and May 2026, according to government data cited by a Firstpost report. The 2,97,727 complaints filed over that period make this one of the country's most damaging cyber fraud categories.

Fraudsters impersonate officials from the CBI, ED, RBI or the Finance Ministry. They tell victims they are implicated in money laundering, international financial crimes or illegal parcel cases. Victims are kept on video calls for hours and pressured to transfer money for “verification” or “clearance.”

Complaints peaked in 2024 at 1,23,672, with losses of ₹1,935.5 crore. In the first five months of 2026 alone, authorities recorded 15,215 complaints and ₹481.1 crore in losses.

There is no legal provision for digital arrest in India. A former Delhi judge told Mint in a related case that the Indian Constitution and all legal statutes contain no such concept. Any phone call, message, email or video call demanding payment under a digital arrest threat is fraud.

The National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) is the official channel for reporting these scams. Staying calm, verifying claims independently and refusing to act under pressure remain the strongest defences.