Indians Lost INR 1,935 Cr To Digital Arrest Scams In 2024: Govt

SUMMARY

MoS Kumar added that 17,718 incidents of digital arrest scams were reported in the first two months of 2025 itself, which defrauded the Indian public of INR 210.21 Cr

60,676 incidents (involving an amount of INR 339 Cr) and 39,925 such cases (totalling to INR 91.14 Cr) were also reported in 2023 and 2022, respectively

The I4C has so far blocked more than 83,668 WhatsApp accounts and 3,962 Skype IDs involved in digital arrest frauds

Minister of State (MoS) for home affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar has informed the Parliament that Indians lost INR 1,935.51 Cr to digital arrest scams in 2024.

In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha yesterday, the MoS said that 1.23 Lakh complaints related to such frauds were lodged on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.

MoS Kumar added that 17,718 incidents of digital arrest scams were reported in the first two months of 2025 itself, which defrauded the Indian public of INR 210.21 Cr.

For the uninitiated, a digital arrest fraud involves a malicious actor impersonating a law enforcement official and defrauding the victim of money by way of intimidation.

Meanwhile, 60,676 incidents (involving an amount of INR 339 Cr) and 39,925 such cases (totalling to INR 91.14 Cr) were also reported in 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Additionally, the MoS also informed the Parliament that the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has so far blocked more than 83,668 WhatsApp accounts involved in digital arrest frauds. In addition, 3,962 Skype IDs have also been taken down for perpetuating such frauds.

The MoS also noted that the Centre has blocked more than 7.81 Lakh SIM cards and 2.08 Lakh (2,08,469 to be precise) IMEI numbers, as of February 28, 2025, in response to complaints from various local law enforcement authorities.

Highlighting the steps taken to curb rising digital frauds, Kumar also said, “A State of the Art Centre, Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre (CFMC) has been established at I4C where representatives of major banks, Financial Intermediaries, Payment Aggregators, Telecom Service Providers, IT Intermediaries and representatives of States/UTs Law Enforcement Agency are working together for immediate action and seamless cooperation to tackle cybercrime”.

He also said that seven joint cyber coordination teams have been constituted under I4C to enhance coordination among law enforcement agencies of various states and union territories (UTs).

In addition, the Centre, in collaboration with telecom operators, has also developed a system to identify and block incoming international spoofed calls, added the MoS.

This comes just days after minister of state (MoS) for finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed the Lok Sabha that Indians lost INR 107.21 Cr to cyber frauds in the first nine months of the ongoing financial year 2024-25 (FY25).