The central government has sprung into action to curb digital arrest scams – which have looted senior citizens, youths, and the vulnerable of thousands of crores of hard-earned money – constituting a high-level
inter-departmental committee to comprehensively examine all facets of the issue of “digital arrests” across the country.
The committee is headed by the Special Secretary (Internal Security), which has already held multiple meetings, of which the latest was attended by representatives from various online platforms, including Google, WhatsApp, Telegram, and more.
The government has filed a status report, informing the Supreme Court, which is hearing the case on January 13, that inputs to combat digital arrest scams have been received from the Department of Telecom (DoT) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The high-level inter-departmental committee (IDC) was formed on December 26, 2025, and has officials from multiple agencies to comprehensively study all aspects of the issue revolving around digital arrest scams.
The IDC has representatives from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), DoT, Ministry of External Affairs, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Law & Justice, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, RBI, Central Bureau of Investigation, National Investigation Agency, Delhi Police and the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).
The IDC was formed after a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant had directed inter-departmental Ministerial consultations to pave the way to end the bane that has caused distress to a large number of people in the country.
The government had sought at least a month to obtain inputs from the remaining members of the IDC and to undertake further deliberations thereon, to place a consolidated and considered outcome before the court.
On December 1, the court had asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to crack down on ‘digital arrest’ scammers and their associates. The top court gave the probe agency a “free hand” to initiate an anti-corruption investigation into bankers involved in the opening of mule accounts linked to cyber crimes.
Digital arrests were widely reported in India in 2024 and 2025, when scamsters would impersonate a police officer/civil servant to threaten innocent people over “digital arrest” and lure them into giving them money.
