In one line
There is no such thing as a "digital arrest". The CBI, ED, police, customs and courts don't arrest anyone over a video call, and none of them will ask you to move money to prove you're innocent. If a call does either, hang up and report it.2
Does this apply to you?
Find yourself in the list.
Hang up. That's how the scam opens. If you're worried, call the agency back on a number you find on its official website yourself.
You can. No agency keeps anyone in custody over Skype or WhatsApp. End the call and tell someone at home.2
Call 1930 now, then file the details at cybercrime.gov.in. The sooner you report, the better the chance the money can be stopped before it moves on.1
Report the number on Chakshu, in the government's Sanchar Saathi portal, so it can be traced and cut off.3
What the rule actually says
The plain version first, then the line from the primary document.
What to do
- Hang up the moment a caller says you're under investigation and asks you to stay on camera.
- Call the agency yourself, on a number from its official website. Never use a number the caller gives you.
- Don't transfer money to "verify" your funds, "secure" your account or pay "bail". No agency asks for that.
- If money has gone, call 1930 straight away, file at cybercrime.gov.in and call your bank's fraud line.
- Talk to older relatives about this. The call works on fear and on keeping the victim alone, and the people with the most savings often lose the most.
The fine print
- The call usually starts with something ordinary, like a courier "held at customs", a SIM "used in a crime" or an Aadhaar number "linked to money laundering".
- Scammers send fake arrest warrants and court letters on WhatsApp, complete with seals and signatures.
- The "officer" will insist you stay on camera and tell nobody, including your family. That's to stop anyone from talking you out of it.
- Money moves through mule accounts within minutes. That's why reporting fast matters more than anything else on this page.
What we don't know yet
- There's no clean national count. The NCRB doesn't track digital arrest separately, so the figures in the news come from different sources and don't line up.14
- Whether SIM-binding on messaging apps, due by 31 December 2026, will cut these calls down. It's meant to stop scammers reusing numbers, but many of the calls come from abroad.4
Our take
By February 2025 the government had blocked 83,668 WhatsApp accounts and 3,962 Skype IDs linked to digital arrest, and the calls kept coming.1 That's because nearly half the operations run from Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, out of reach of Indian police.4 Blocking accounts helps, but the cheapest protection is still a ten-minute conversation. Tell your parents that no real officer arrests anyone on a video call, and make sure 1930 is saved in their phones.
Change log
Sources
- Press Information Bureau, Incidents of digital arrest (Lok Sabha reply, 25 March 2025)
- The Tribune, I4C advisory on video-call arrests (7 Oct 2024)
- Factly, how to report fraud calls and messages on Chakshu
- Observer Research Foundation, Digital arrest scams and the limits of domestic enforcement (18 July 2026)