- 3 months ago
In this episode of Newstrack, the focus is on India's latest cyber threat, the 'digital arrest' scam, which has led to Indians losing over Rs 4,000 crore in just 10 months of 2025.
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00:00Good evening, this is the NewsTrack and I'm Maria Shaquille.
00:03It starts with a phone call from someone claiming to be a cop or a government official.
00:08They speak with authority, cite laws and accuse you or your loved ones of a crime.
00:15Fear grips you instantly, you stop thinking and within days you are trapped, both mentally and financially.
00:22This has happened to a retired banker in Delhi who lost 23 crores in a matter of 47 days to a scamster.
00:33To an elderly couple in Karnataka it has happened as well and it is happening across the country.
00:40In fact, Indians have lost over 4,000 crore rupees in 24 lakh digital fraud cases in just these 10 months of 2025.
00:50This is India's latest cyber threat, the so-called digital arrest scam.
00:57A new age fraud where fear is the weapon and your bank account is the target.
01:03Take a look at this report and then I bring in the guests.
01:08What do you see?
01:09You are in the digital arrest. Go to the other room.
01:13All alone.
01:15You are in the parcel of drugs.
01:18You will go to the parcel of your parcel.
01:18They won't break into your house.
01:23They won't even show up at your door.
01:25They'll just call pretending to be cops or central agency officers.
01:29Tell you your name is linked to a crime and convince you that you are under house arrest.
01:35Welcome to India's newest cyber plague, the digital arrest scam.
01:38A 78-year-old retired banker in South Delhi is the latest to be conned.
01:45A month-long ordeal that led to a fraud of 23 crore rupees in what could be country's biggest digital arrest scam.
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01:59The woman on the call allegedly said he will be arrested under the NIA Act and his property
02:28will be seized.
02:30He was asked to provide bank details, details regarding fixed deposits, lockers and stocks.
02:36They even sent this former Delhi banker a fake arrest warrant and asked him to not say
02:41anything about this to anyone.
02:43Over a period of one month, between August 4 and September 4, the fraudsters carried
02:48out 20 transactions and withdrew 23 crore rupees from Naresh Malhotra's multiple bank
02:54accounts.
02:55First of all, they received about 14,000,000 in my account.
03:01Then I said that I have my shares.
03:04They said that we will verify all the assets.
03:07This Reserve Bank will be sent to you.
03:12We will tell you the account number, where you will send money.
03:15You will give money on RTGS.
03:17And we will give you a certificate of how much money we have given you.
03:23How much money did you have given you?
03:26The police have registered an FIR and a probe is underway.
03:35But for Naresh Malhotra and dozens like him, the damage is already done.
03:39The hard earned money is gone.
03:41One call, one moment of fear and everything is gone.
03:46That's the danger of digital arrest scams.
03:48So think before you pick up or you will have to pay up.
03:52With Arvind Oja and Asa Bhardwaj, Bureau Report, India Today.
03:57And joining me on the show tonight, Brijesh Singh, additional DGP of Maharashtra.
04:02Someone who is an expert in this domain.
04:05Enes Napinai is a Supreme Court lawyer and also founder of Cyber Saathi.
04:10And we have two cyber fraud victims joining us, Meeta Wadhwa and Mokam Singh.
04:16Before I bring in the victims and learn from them their story, let me go to Brijesh Singh.
04:23Brijesh Singh, in the last few months there have been extensive campaign, awareness campaign
04:29which has been launched by the government of India.
04:31Multiple state governments have roped in as well.
04:33Then why is this menace not stopping?
04:35In fact, this latest cyber arrest which has happened is the highest.
04:41I mean, the gentleman in question ended up paying almost 23 crores here.
04:47Maria, awareness is a very difficult thing.
04:52And what these people do is that they create authority, fear and secrecy.
04:58So once this is created, the victim generally cannot think in common sense terms
05:04about any exposure which has been given through awareness messages.
05:11Now, this was being run through various kinds of cyber farms in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and various other places.
05:19So a lot of efforts from the government has led to closure of many of these farms.
05:24Even, you know, Indians were taken there, abducted and kept there and they were making calls.
05:30Though they could have voice and accent, they understood you, they understood your language,
05:35they knew what local agencies are there or what would you be afraid of.
05:39But it's actually a multi-layered thing wherein people are properly profiled.
05:43Like retired people, they would have money.
05:45They generally are compliant to authority.
05:48And they are from a time when they believed in, you know, physical calls, contacts and things like that.
05:54So they are very vulnerable, they have money and they become the kind of, you know, ironically the right profile to be targeted by these people.
06:03So it is something where they make the victim comply to their commands and hence it is very, very difficult.
06:11Once the victim complies, then the money flows to money mule accounts and from there there are quick withdrawals and money goes off.
06:17So it is happening in real time and the law enforcement and the banking response to this in real time is very, very difficult.
06:26Hence this keeps on happening.
06:28I want to understand from you also, Rajesh Singh, particularly, can there be some kind of collaboration between multiple agencies?
06:36Also the telecom, you know, the role of telecommunication becomes important here, the telecom companies.
06:43Can they collaborate with the enforcement agencies, banks and international enforcement to make scam operations harder to run?
06:52A lot is being done. There is a central government ministry of home agency, which is called I4C, which is doing great work in this regard,
07:02which is sharing information across, you know, all banks, wallets, any kind of, you know, payment operators, NBFCs, UPI.
07:12But see this real time coordination with everybody becomes extremely difficult because you don't know what money, what route this money is going to take.
07:20But the best route is 1930 because 1930 is a number which everybody should note.
07:25There is a golden hour principle that if you can call 1930 within, you know, an hour of your money being swindled, then there is a high chance that it would be stopped.
07:36Because 1930 has the authority across banks, across institutions, across, you know, payment wallets to stop money from flying from your account.
07:46So, a lot is being done. Coordination is being done. But however, the scale of problem is still very large.
07:51Okay. So, 1930, for all those watching this program, is the number you can dial in case if you face a situation of this nature.
08:00NS Nappini, we are looking at the golden period. What if, in multiple cases, in this particular case, again, the golden period was missed,
08:08because he was allegedly under this cyber arrest, digital arrest for 47 days.
08:15Then the question is, how can victims be reassured legally, fast-tracked cyber crime courts, stronger digital complaint portals, or tougher penalties for impersonation of officials?
08:27Critically, Maria, every victim first looks for recovery of their money. So, that's why the golden hour is critical that you move before the money leaves the banking channels.
08:42So, I personally feel, and this is something I have been repeatedly vocalizing, which is that you know that at least one hop is through banking channels.
08:51So, it is really important for banks to figure out a remedy to block monies once they flow into mule accounts, because you can use technology to identify and create ring fencing in terms of how the money flow happens.
09:11Okay.
09:12Because if they are able to detect fraud using AI or other technology or tools, they can definitely use the same tools to find unnatural flow of money.
09:22It seems rather simplistic. I know it's not that simple, but it's at least a good starting point.
09:29Okay.
09:30And it really confounds me on why this act, why the banks are not being done. Awareness is fine, but then you're just preaching to the victims, telling them stay safe.
09:40Yes, stay safe.
09:41Yes, stay safe.
09:42Absolutely.
09:43Yes, somebody is bound to fall victim, then it is for the system to work for them and to protect them.
09:49Okay.
09:50So, there is no victim protection which is happening here. It is essentially caution which is being advised. Stay cautious. That is the only way you have to protect your own self is the message which is coming in.
10:01Now, Aakam Singh, you are again a cyber fraud victim. Tell us your story. Were you able to recover any money so far?
10:11See, on this 23rd of this last month, I received messages, a lot of OTPs that this is an OTP for a car share, this is an OTP for this thing. I neglected all these OTPs. And when in the night, around 8.30 PM, I got a message on my phone, if you have applied for this new scene. I didn't apply. The message was there that if you have not applied, you say just no scene.
10:40So, I replied no scene. And even the acknowledgement from that Airtel also came to me that we have received your message. Thank you. Next day on Sunday, my number contact, my number was stopped and I think I went to the Airtel office. That was Sunday. All was closed. I called to this thing, what you call call centers and nobody responded.
11:09So, on 25th, it was Monday. And I just was having that thing in mind that something is going wrong. I went to Airtel office early in the morning.
11:20I just asked me, just asked me that your phone has been hacked and something has been claimed by some other. You just rushed to your bank. I rushed to my bank and to my dismay, I found that from three accounts, already 1 crore and 26 lakh rupees had been drained away.
11:42I was just surprised how to do that. And then my banker froze that account because I was somewhat lucky that the bank which I was using, the same bank that cyber persons were also using.
11:58So, in your case, there was no digital arrest. So, in your case, there was no digital arrest per se? No, no, no digital arrest. Some hacked my phone.
12:07Okay, someone hacked your phone. Meeta Vadwa. So, Mokam Singh, did you receive your money back? Did you get your money back?
12:14Did you get your money back? Yeah, I was lucky enough that I accept one lakh. I have received all the money.
12:23Okay. But the thing is that in some point around 44 lakhs, they have sent to some MMTC company and they have what you call purchased gold from that.
12:35And that MMTC company is claiming that they came with the PAN card and GST and all that. And they are claiming that this money should be ours.
12:44And we didn't know that this is a vertical cyber, this fraud money. But this MMTC company, companies I have this, they are acting as a shelter for all this money.
12:56And there, even in 2023, this MMTC company was in league with suitcase, in big fraud.
13:05The same day, the person from Mumbai is transferring money. And same day, he's been giving without having due diligence in checking the identity of the person.
13:18So, the thing is that I think this cyber, it is not well-equipped because the surge is so much that the government can do something.
13:30So, Mokam Singh, basically in your case, what we are looking at is there is a new form of cyber fraud in which you are losing your money.
13:38But thankfully, you were alert enough and there has been recovery in your case. Meeta Vadwa, tell us your story.
13:45So, mine was quite similar to what just explained. Basically, mine was not an individual account. So, ours, we have a business and so our company account was hacked, basically.
14:02So, it's a similar case. When the SIM was closed on Friday night, when we tried making calls from that, we realized that, okay, there's some problem with the mobile.
14:16And being a Saturday and Sunday, we were not able to connect with the customer service.
14:21And finally, on Monday, by the time we reached the BSNL office, we were told that your SIM is already issued in Indore.
14:32So, that was the first information we got. And when we checked with the bank, because then all our bank account is linked with that particular SIM.
14:43We realized that somebody got a SIM issued on our letterhead in Indore and has already withdrawn 45 lakh rupees over the weekend.
14:57Okay.
14:58And when on Monday, we realized, because all the messages were going to that particular number.
15:04Okay.
15:05By Monday, when we realized, the money was already pulled out from the account.
15:10And the last mile which we could go is that the person who was using the SIM was dragged and he was taking a flight from Indore.
15:21And he left the phone near the airport.
15:25And this account was apparently some 92-year-old man in and around Shillong.
15:35And in fact, his account was also by the time empty.
15:39So, Meeta, did you get your money back?
15:43No.
15:44Okay.
15:45So, it isтАж
15:46So, we are citing a case against the two companies, which is the BSNL and HDFC.
15:52Okay.
15:53But we were not, we are still not able to recover the money.
15:56So, Brijesh Singh, what's evident here is that they are several steps ahead of the law enforcement agencies.
16:02The scamsters are clearly looking at multiple ways.
16:06I mean, you have had two cases here on this show talking about SIMs being issued on the same number and how that is being used for withdrawing money.
16:17Wrongfully.
16:18Maria, actually what they are talking about is something called SIM swap fraud.
16:22And, you know, countries like Tanzania have stopped SIM swap with a simple thing, with a simple API.
16:30That before transaction, the API checks whether there has been a SIM change request made or not.
16:36If there is a SIM change request, then the transaction doesn't go through.
16:39There is something like that which can be adapted here.
16:42Now, two more things which are very important from a consumer perspective.
16:46One is that there is an RBI circular which limits consumer liability to 5,000 and 25,000 if they have informed within time.
16:59Like, if the information is given within three days, the liability is just 5,000 and for between four to seven days, the liability for current accounts is 25,000.
17:14And for credit cards, it's one lakh rupees.
17:17One more thing is banking ombudsman.
17:20On the RBI side, you can, even if you have lost money, you can do the, you can complain on 1930.
17:26You can also note this site, cybercrime.gov.in.
17:30So, you can at your home, you can sit and register your complaint on cybercrime.gov.in and they will send it to the local police station.
17:37However, you also have the root of banking ombudsman.
17:41And one, there is one thing here that if there is contributory negligence, which normally banks say that since you have shared the ODP or you have transferred the money, the liability is yours.
17:54However, in certain cases now, the courts are taking the view that there is, the contributory negligence is totally not of the customer and being, asking the banks to repay the money.
18:06So, banking ombudsman is also one route which can be obtained through the RBI side.
18:11The RBI is a complaint section on the side where they can find ombudsman and complain to ombudsman, which is also a very good route for recovery of money apart from the criminal procedure.
18:20Okay, quickly, before I let you go and wrap up this discussion, Vijay Singh, as someone who is an officer who understands the space much better than many others, has there been recovery in these cases?
18:37We are looking at huge number of cases. I mean, if we were to just sum it up in the last 10 months, I mean, as we were putting out those data, it is 4000 crore.
18:46Yeah, there have been recoveries, but the problem is once there is immediate debit, then the recovery of money is difficult because there is failure at the KYC level.
18:56See, law enforcement comes after the match is over, right? The real thing is to be done by banks, who are the custodian of people's money.
19:05They need to establish better KYC protocols and better volume, velocity checks. If the cybercriminals can profile and find out who to victimise, the banks can also.
19:16As Narpineh was saying, there are technological means through which you can find out, let's say, mule accounts.
19:21In accounts where money is coming and immediately getting withdrawn, those are mule accounts. And the banks can definitely find out and stop these mule accounts.
19:29So, there are failures at various ends, but I feel that things are tightening and we are learning every day from the new modus which these criminals adopt.
19:39And I think it's going to be better, but much needs to be done.
19:44Absolutely. Brijesh Singh, Ennis Nappinai, Meeta Wadhwa and Mokam Singh, thank you for joining us on this edition of the news track.
19:52But don't forget to tune in to India today, tomorrow at 6pm for a mega exclusive with RJD Sian and former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Tejaswee Yadav,
20:07as he opens up about SIR and who will be the Mahagat Bandhan's Chief Ministerial face as the election season kicks in clearly in poll-bound Bihar.
20:20That's our big exclusive coming up tomorrow.
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