A digital arrest is a fraud in which someone posing as a police, CBI, customs, ED or courier officer keeps you on a video call for hours, shows a fake notice, and demands a verification transfer to prove your innocence. No Indian agency verifies money over a video call, and no genuine officer asks you to transfer funds or share an OTP. If money has moved, call your bank and the 1930 helpline at once.
When this matters
This applies to the person who is on the call, and to the son, daughter or friend who discovers it late. Elderly and retired persons, and those with savings they can move quickly, are the usual targets. It also applies once the transfer is done and the family is left with a fake notice, call records and a lost sum.
How the fraud works
- A first call from someone claiming to be from a courier company, saying a parcel in your name contained contraband.
- A transfer to a police officer on a video call, with a background that looks like a police station or a government office.
- A fake notice or letterhead with a case number, a seal and a demand to verify your bank account.
- A demand for a transfer to a government escrow or an RBI account, with a promise that the money will be returned.
- Isolation: an instruction not to tell family, not to disconnect, and not to consult a lawyer.
The truth you can rely on
No police officer, nor the CBI, ED, customs or any other agency, conducts an arrest or verifies money over a video call. The police do not take money into an RBI account, and no court or agency asks a citizen to prove innocence by transferring funds. A genuine notice is served physically or through an authorised channel, and no genuine officer demands secrecy. Any one of these features is enough reason to end the call.
Steps after a transfer
- Call your bank at once and ask it to freeze the account and the card, and note the reference number.
- Call the 1930 helpline and file a report on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal immediately; the earlier the report, the better the chance the beneficiary account is blocked.
- File an FIR under Section 173 BNSS 2023 (formerly Section 154 CrPC), or a written complaint at the cyber cell, and follow it with an application under Section 175(3) BNSS 2023 (formerly Section 156(3) CrPC) if the police do not act.
- Do not pay any release or recovery fee to anyone promising to get the money back; recovery-fee frauds follow digital-arrest frauds.
How to help a family member who is mid-scam
- If you are with them, ask them to end the call. If they are remote, call them on another number or reach them in person.
- Explain simply that no agency arrests over a video call, and that the notice is fake.
- Once they are off the call, put the phone on airplane mode or uninstall any remote-access app that was installed, and change passwords from a clean device.
- Call the bank together, then the 1930 helpline, and keep the call records and the fake notice.
- Do not shame them; urgent silence is what the fraud relies on, and a calm conversation breaks it.
Evidence to preserve
- The phone numbers that called, with the call times and durations, from the call log.
- The fake notice or letterhead, kept as received.
- The transaction record: the bank entry, UPI reference and beneficiary account, with the amount and time.
- The reference numbers from the bank and the portal report.
- Any messages or case numbers the caller sent.
The conduct is prosecuted as cheating under Section 318 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (formerly Sections 415 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code 1860) and cheating by personation under Section 319 BNS 2023, with the computer-related offences under the Information Technology Act 2000 where a computer resource is used. See our cyber fraud and cyber law work.
If a family member is still on the call, or money has just left the account, do not wait to gather every document; reach the office with the call log, the fake notice and the transaction reference, and the bank and portal steps can run the same day.
Common questions
Can the money be recovered after a digital arrest transfer?
It can be, if the report is fast. The 1930 helpline and the portal allow the beneficiary account to be flagged and, where the funds are still there, frozen. Once the money is withdrawn through several accounts, recovery becomes harder.
I gave my bank details but did not transfer. Am I safe?
Change your passwords and PINs, enable two-factor authentication, and watch the account. If any debit authorisation or card was shared, get it blocked. Report the attempt on the portal even if no money moved, so the numbers are on record.
Will the police treat my complaint seriously?
Digital-arrest fraud is a recognised pattern and cyber cells handle it routinely. A complaint with the call log, the fake notice and the transaction reference is investigated; the more complete the record, the easier it is.
Should I pay to get my money back?
No. Genuine recovery runs through the bank, the helpline and the court, not through an agent who charges a fee up front. Paying a second time is a common way victims lose more.
If a family member is mid-scam, or money has just moved, reach the office without delay. FileX Advocates & Legal Consultants, Kolkata, drafts and files these matters before the Calcutta High Court, City Civil and Sessions courts, magistrate, family, consumer and tribunal forums. Call +91 7439811422 or WhatsApp us for a free first consultation.