The Rajasthan High Court while taking Suo-Moto cognizance of increasing trend of 'Digital Arrest Scams' has highlighted that there is no provision in the New Criminal Laws to that effect.

The Court made the observations in "In Re : In the matter of tackling the issue of ‘Digital Arrest Scams’, Cyber Crimes and saving the innocent people from loosing their money and lives."

The single-bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand observed,"It is right time and high time to spread a public campaign through print, electronic, social media, television and FM Radio every hour and every day to make the public at large aware that there is no provision for law enforcement to conduct 'arrest is via video-calls or online monitoring’. If the public receive such calls, it is a clear scam. In fact, the recently enacted new criminal law does not provide for any legal provisions of conducting digital arrest."

The Court mentioned that it has been continuously reported that over the last few years, Cyber Crimes and the offences like ‘digital arrest’ have increased worldwide and in our country thousands of innocent people have been trapped in it and they have lost huge amount of their hard-earned money and also lost their lives.

It noted that there has been an alarming rise in ‘digital arrest’ cases with such scams targeting the individuals from every walk of life.

" 'Digital arrest' is a new and innovative tactic employed by scammers/cybercriminals to defraud gullible victims and extort money. The modus operandi in this cybercrime method is that fraudsters pose as law enforcement officials such as Police, Enforcement Directorate, CBI, etc. and manipulate them into believing that they have committed some serious crime.....The scammers deceive the victim into believing that he or she has been put under ‘digital arrest' and will be prosecuted if he/she does not pay the scammers an amount of money as demanded by them. As per cyber experts, the fraudsters in this tactic are using fear and sense of urgency against the victims and ensure that they part with their money before they realize that it is a scam. Cyber criminals/scammers often use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to scare victims by mimicking voice of their loved ones and family members in order to extort money from them," the Court observed.

The Court pointed out that they often force the naive victims to self-arrest or self-quarantine themselves, by tricking them into believing that they have been put under 'digital arrest' and cannot leave their house unless they pay to amount as demanded.

"In the age of rapid digital evolution, digital arrest scams have emerged as one of the most insidious forms of cybercrime. Scammers frequently exploit vulnerability gaps within the digital spaces, using themes of authority, urgency and fear to trick victims into revealing personal information or transferring money. Different countries have implemented variety of methods to combat this rising threat with varying level of success, " the Court stated.

It mentioned that the ‘digital arrest’ scams employ manipulative psychological tactics, often leading victims to believe they have been implicated in serious criminal activities and under the duress of threats and intimidation, victims are frequently coerced into paying huge amount of money to evade severe consequences such as arrest or incarceration.

The Court stressed on the fact that ‘digital arrest’ has no legal standing in India and it only represents a highly sophisticated scam that can snare even well-educated individuals.

The Scammers instill fear and panic in individual, before extorting money from them under false pretenses, ultimately making such individuals a victim of cybercrime.

The Court was of the opinion that in today's day and age when the world is increasingly reliant on digital interactions, understanding the mechanisms behind digital arrest scams is essential for safeguarding oneself against such threats.

"Awareness and education are crucial in recognizing the signs of such attacks, ensuring that individuals remain vigilant and informed, thereby reducing the likelihood of falling victim to these scams," the Court said.

The Court took note of the fact that to curb this new crime 'Digital Arrest' several advisories have been issued at the Government level and even some steps have also been taken.

However, after listing them, the Court stated that though several steps have been taken at the various levels of the Government but in order to curb out the current and dangerous situation more serious steps are required to be taken by all the stakeholders.

"It is right time and high time to spread a public campaign through print, electronic, social media, television and FM Radio every hour and every day to make the public at large aware that there is no provision for law enforcement to conduct 'arrest is via video calls or online monitoring’. If the public receive such calls, it is a clear scam. In fact, the recently enacted new criminal law does not provide for any legal provisions of conducting digital arrest. The Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) s for the summons to be served electronically under Section 63. The section defines the form of summons. It states that every summons served electronically shall be encrypted and bear the image and seal of the Court and digital signature. The people must be made aware of the fact that as per Sections 35 & 36 of BNSS, due process at the time of arrest has to be followed. The police officer carrying on the arrest has to be accurate visible and clear identification and prepare a memo of arrest at the time of arrest, which is required to be attested at least by one witness and signed by the person being arrested," the Court observed.

The Court further stressed that some serious steps are required to be taken at the level of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to not to transfer the money of such trap transactions or stop payment of such fraudulent transaction in every case where complaint is made/lodged by the sufferer/victim.

"The RBI and the Government is required to develop a mechanism of stoppage of payment to the fraudulent person wherever complaint is received on the portal or website or mobile number to the Complaint Redressal Committee, so that the money of innocent people can be saved," the Court stated.

Cause Title: In Re: In matter of tackling the issue of ‘Digital Arrest Scams’, Cyber Crimes

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