Indians Lose ₹120 Crore in Digital Arrest Scams, 46% Fraudsters from Southeast Asia
digital arrest scam India 2024: As per the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) data, this year a total of 7.4 lakh complaints were filed between January 1 and April 30 while 15.56 lakh complaints were filed in 2023.

Indians Lose ₹120 Crore in Digital Arrest Scams
digital arrest scam India 2024: As per the government data, the Indians lost about Rs 120.3 crore in "digital arrest" scams in the first quarter of 2024. On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about these frauds.
As per the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) data, this year a total of 7.4 lakh complaints were filed between January 1 and April 30 while 15.56 lakh complaints were filed in 2023.
The Chief Executive Officer of Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), Rajesh Kumar said during the publication of the report in May quoted by the Indian Express, “We found that Indians lost ₹120.30 crore in digital arrest, ₹1,420.48 crore in trading scam, ₹222.58 crore in investments scam, and ₹13.23 crore in romance/dating scam.”
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) monitor cyber crime 14C and the Ministery said that digital arrests have become a common method of digital fraud.
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The peoples behind these scams are manly from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.
While addressing the public in the 115th Episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on October 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about his concerns over "digital arrest fraud".
During the speech, PM Modi showed a video clip in which a person disguised as a police officer asking the other person to share his Aadhaar number so that a mobile number could be blocked.
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Modi added, “This audio is not just for information, this is not an entertainment audio...It has emerged with a deep concern. The conversation you just heard pertains to the fraud of Digital Arrest. This conversation is between a victim and a fraudster.”
These frauds are known as Modus Operandi scams, in these frauds a person gets a unknown call claiming they had sent or expected to recieve a package with illegal goods, drugs, fake passports, or other illegal items. Then, the scammers would contact them through video call disguised as law enforcement officers and charge for money to "close the case" and reach a "compromise”.
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