Digital Arrest Scams: CBI Crackdown Widens As Supreme Court Keeps Up Pressure

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has stepped up its nationwide operation against "digital arrest" scams, searching 89 locations in 20 states under Operation Chakra-VI. These investigations followed the arrest of three suspects who allegedly took part in three major cases where victims were coerced into transferring money into the hands of the fraudsters.

In one case, a professor from BITS Pilani lost ₹7.67 crore after being falsely accused of involvement in a cybercrime involving Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal. She was kept under a fabricated "digital arrest" for three months, forced to submit to daily video calls and location tracking. Another victim, an 81-year-old businessman from Belagavi, lost ₹15.45 crore during a six-week scam where fraudsters impersonated CBI officials and forced him to liquidate his investments and transfer money.

These cases highlight the need for authorities to look beyond the people making threatening video calls and to examine the flow of funds through different accounts. The Supreme Court has been pressuring the CBI to tackle these scams, granting the agency broader investigative powers. The court also directed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to issue guidelines for freezing accounts linked to mule accounts, which could help disrupt the networks behind these scams.