No Such Concept As ‘Digital Arrest’ Exists Under The Law: Mumbai Police Launches Awareness Drive For Senior Citizens

Digital fraud incidents have risen significantly in the last few years, rendering innocent people, particularly senior citizens, vulnerable to financial loss. Digital arrest fraud has become the new favourite tool for fraudsters to trick people and extort money from them. Recently, the Mumbai police cyber cell has launched an awareness drive for senior citizens on digital arrest fraud. According to the message on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the Mumbai Police personnel are meeting seniors and informing them about such frauds. The X post reads, “As part of the campaign, our police personnel are meeting senior citizens and distributing informational brochures in Marathi and English, clearly highlighting that no such concept as ‘digital arrest’ exists under the law.”

No Such Concept As ‘Digital Arrest’ Exists Under The Law

No matter how outlandish the digital arrest fraud sounds, every other day, there is some news about seniors or retirees falling victim and losing money. According to the government data, around 86 per cent of households in India are connected to the internet. The data show that cyber fraud incidents have risen from 10.29 lakh in 2022 to 22.68 lakh in 2024. As per National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) data, Maharashtra reported the highest number of cyber frauds (4,27,607) since NCRP was launched in 2019 to February 28, 2025.

The incidents have become so grave that fraudsters are even using the court notice and other papers to make them look authentic. In one such incident in which an elderly couple fell victim to digital arrest fraud and lost over Rs 1 crore, the Supreme Court of India took suo motu cognizance of such matters and expressed concerns over fake legal orders.  

What Is The Modus Operandi?

While digital arrest fraud has no legal validity and there is no such practice followed by government officials or authorities to arrest people virtually, those who are not aware fall prey to the trickery. It may start with an audio or a video call, which may start simply with an enquiry. For example, it could be a simple call from a police officer enquiring about a packet that contains some illegal or suspicious material and has your name written on it. The hook may keep the victim engaged in the call, which later may involve more fraudsters impersonating as senior police officials, or officials from Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), or so. Ultimately, they ask to keep the camera switched on to let them keep a watch over you. The threats, such as a police arrest later, do the trick, making people transfer money to the accounts and ultimately losing it.

Note that THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS DIGITAL ARREST UNDER THE LAW.  

Such fraud can not only cause monetary loss to the victim but also significantly erode their trust in the digital platforms. Alongside, the emotional distress cannot be ignored, especially when such victims are in their silver years.

In the initiative, Mumbai Police is informing people and advising them to stay alert and, in case of an incident, inform the cyber helpline at 1930 immediately or report it on the official cybercrime portal.