High-level committee formed to probe digital arrest scam, take immediate action

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has formed a high-level committee to investigate digital arrest scam cases and cyber fraud.

The committee has been instructed to take immediate action against the perpetrators. According to sources, the committee will be monitored by the Secretary of the Home Ministry’s Internal Security. The Ministry’s Cybercrime Coordination Centre, also known as 14C, has contacted police of all states and union territories to inform them of the committee.

So far this year, more than 6,000 digital arrest complaints have been registered, with the 14C blocking 6 lakh mobile numbers in connection to the scam, which targets unsuspecting individuals by falsely implicating them in drug and money laundering cases. The Cybercrime Coordination Centre has also blocked at least 709 mobile applications. The sources said that authorities have ordered the freezing of 3.25 lakh fake bank accounts related to cyber fraud.

In the wake of a sudden spike in the number of digital arrest cases across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also warned people against such scams, noting that they have hit all sections of society. In his “Mann ki Baat” radio broadcast on Sunday, he requested people to “stop, think and take action” when faced with such a scam. The Prime Minister stressed that there was nothing called “digital arrest” in law.

WHAT IS DIGITAL ARREST
Digital arrest is a new method of cyber fraud in which fraudsters pose as law enforcement officers and threaten people on audio or video calls and hold them hostage digitally on the false pretext of arrest. Earlier this week, the Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In) shared a list that talks about more than a dozen ways in which online scams are being perpetrated by fraudsters in the country, including “digital arrest” to dupe people by stealing their money and private data.