The Supreme Court of India recently voiced its profound shock over the alarming scale of ‘digital arrest’ scams, revealing that fraudsters have siphoned off more than ₹3,000 crore from victims, predominantly the elderly. During a hearing on Monday, November 3, 2025, a bench led by Justice Surya Kant, who is the Chief Justice of India-designate, acknowledged a confidential government report. Justice Kant emphasized that the issue of digital arrests presents a ‘very big challenge,’ far exceeding initial estimates.
He stated, ‘The report shows the extent of fraud is very big… ₹3,000 crore was collected from victims in India alone. What would be the suffering at the global level?’ Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Union Government, concurred with Justice Kant, confirming that the digital arrest scam problem was initially underestimated.
Justice Kant assured that the judiciary is prepared to issue stringent orders to empower law enforcement agencies against these fraudsters, pledging ‘all support.’ Mr. Mehta underscored the urgency, warning that the problem would ‘magnify’ if not addressed, especially given that many victims are senior citizens.
Earlier in the proceedings, the Supreme Court had considered assigning the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) the task of probing these digital arrest cases. These scams involve fraudsters impersonating judges and police officers, using forged documents to orchestrate fake arrests.
Attorney General R. Venkataramani revealed that these sophisticated cyber crimes often originate from across national borders, masterminded by ‘money-laundering gangs.’ Mr. Mehta further explained that these organized cyber crimes are executed on a vast scale from ‘scam compounds.’
The Supreme Court initially took suo motu cognizance of a case involving a senior citizen couple in Haryana’s Ambala who were digitally arrested based on fabricated court orders and probe agency directives, leading to an extortion of ₹1.05 crore. Subsequently, the court learned of numerous similar incidents nationwide where innocent individuals, particularly senior citizens, were coerced through threats of ‘cyber arrests.’ These criminals leverage Artificial Intelligence and advanced technology to create convincing, but fake, courtrooms and police station backgrounds.
‘The impact of the problem is great. There is not only a financial but also a human angle. Gullible people are promised employment abroad and reduced to the status of human slaves. Criminals morph the faces of judges and make calls to victims with the Court rooms shown as the background,’ Mr. Mehta highlighted, painting a grim picture of the human suffering caused by these widespread frauds.