Digital Arrest Fraud in India: Examining the Legal and Investigative Challenges in Combating Emerging Cyber Scams

The speedy digitalisation of financial transactions and communication in India has been accompanied by a perceptible escalation in cybercrime, with “digital arrest” scams emerging as one of its near psychologically damaging and financially costly forms. In the scams, perpetrators impersonate law enforcement, judicial, or regulatory officials, often using AI-generated voices, deepfake video calls, and forged digital documents to coerce victims through fear and a false sense of valid urgency into transferring money. This paper examines digital arrest fraud as a different category of cybercrime, situating it within the broader ecosystem of digital payment vulnerability, mule account-based money laundering and organized cybercriminal networks. This study is based on prior research on digital arrest scams, including the psychological tactics used to commit such crimes, such as impersonation of authority, creating a sense of urgency, and instilling fear. It also covers the various technological tools and forensic techniques employed by investigators to track and dismantle such frauds, including those used by Cellebrite (UFED), FTK, EnCase, and others. In addition, the various institutional frameworks created to counter cybercrimes have been covered, including the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (14C) established by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal set up by the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Several jurisdictional and intermediary liability gaps in the Information Technology Act, 2000 have been identified. These need to be addressed through legal reforms. This paper is written from the socio-legal perspective of technology and law, specifically addressing the technological and regulatory measures for Digital Arrest Scams in India. The paper attempts to strengthen India’s capacity to prevent, investigate and prosecute Digital Arrest Scams and, in the process, safeguard and protect the digital trust of its citizens through a multi-pronged approach of the latest technological safeguards, inter-agency coordination, public awareness programs, and dynamic law reforms to address cyberspace challenges.