The Supreme Court on Monday handed over the investigation into the nationwide “digital arrest” scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), giving the agency complete authority to lead a coordinated, countrywide crackdown on the fast-growing cyber fraud.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the CBI would be the first and primary agency to probe all cases linked to the scam, which involves fraudsters posing as officials, staging fake online “arrests,” and extorting money—often from senior citizens who are intimidated into believing they are facing legal action.
The apex court directed that all authorities must comply with CBI requests under the IT Intermediary Rules, 2021. States that have not granted general consent to the CBI were told to immediately allow the agency to investigate IT Act cases within their jurisdiction so that nationwide operations are not blocked. The Bench also permitted the CBI to seek assistance from Interpol wherever needed.
The Department of Telecommunications was asked to submit a proposal to better regulate the issuance of SIM cards and the use of multiple SIMs under one identity, as these have become key enablers in cyber fraud.
States and Union Territories have also been instructed to expedite the establishment of cybercrime centres, preserve all mobile data seized during investigations, and hand over every FIR registered under the IT Act related to the digital arrest scam to the CBI.
The court noted a surge in complaints since it took suo motu cognisance, with many victims coming forward to describe how they were trapped and coerced by cybercriminals.
Calling the fraud a crime of “alarming scale,” CJI Surya Kant said the scam required urgent attention from the country’s premier investigative agency. “Senior citizens have been targeted across states through various methods. This scam demands immediate, thorough investigation,” he observed.
The matter will be heard again in two weeks. noting that several fraudulent accounts used in the scam may have been opened with the help of complicit bankers.
In a significant move, the Reserve Bank of India was made a party to the suo motu proceedings. The court asked the RBI to draw up timelines for deploying Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning tools to detect suspicious transactions and automatically freeze questionable accounts.
The apex court directed that all authorities must comply with CBI requests under the IT Intermediary Rules, 2021. States that have not granted general consent to the CBI were told to immediately allow the agency to investigate IT Act cases within their jurisdiction so that nationwide operations are not blocked. The Bench also permitted the CBI to seek assistance from Interpol wherever needed.
The Department of Telecommunications was asked to submit a proposal to better regulate the issuance of SIM cards and the use of multiple SIMs under one identity, as these have become key enablers in cyber fraud.
States and Union Territories have also been instructed to expedite the establishment of cybercrime centres, preserve all mobile data seized during investigations, and hand over every FIR registered under the IT Act related to the digital arrest scam to the CBI.
The court noted a surge in complaints since it took suo motu cognisance, with many victims coming forward to describe how they were trapped and coerced by cybercriminals.
Calling the fraud a crime of “alarming scale,” CJI Surya Kant said the scam required urgent attention from the country’s premier investigative agency. “Senior citizens have been targeted across states through various methods. This scam demands immediate, thorough investigation,” he observed.
The matter will be heard again in two weeks.