A multi-dimensional startegy including telecom regulators, service providers, the RBI, tech giants and the CBI has been taken to handle the growing menace of digital arrest scams, besides WhatsApp banning 9,400 accounts involved in such offences, PTI reported citing Centre statement to the Supreme Court.
The government's strategy was described by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) which has filed a detailed status report in pursuance of the Supreme Court's directions of February 9 to control the growing cases of digital arrests in the country, people aware of the development told the news portal.
Chief Justice Surya Kant headed bench had taken suo motu cognisance of online frauds, including digital arrests and issued a set of directions including asking the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), and others to hold a joint meeting to suggest a framework to provide compensation in digital arrest cases.
A fresh status report was filed through Attorney General R Venkataramani, which described enforcement actions taken by WhatsApp in the last 12 weeks since January this year.
“In direct response to concerns raised by I4C, MEITY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) and DoT, WhatsApp in January 2026 launched a structured, multi-week dedicated investigation specifically focused on digital arrest scams targeting Indian users. This investigation followed a rigorous methodology: identify seed signals map networks enforce against the entire network build scaled automated defences,” the report was quoted as saying, adding 9,400 accounts have been banned due to alleged involvement in digital arrests.
To protect users further, WhatsApp has implemented several "enforcement innovations", which includes logo detection for systems to identify and remove accounts using official police or government insignia in display pictures, it said.
WhatsApp is also considering to introduce a new feature to cautionusers when they receive a call from a "newly created" or "non-tenured" account, a common feature of scam profiles, the status report said, adding that process to automatically hide profile pictures to prevent scammers from using visual cues of authority will also be deployed.
The CBI has set a Rs 10 crore loss threshold for taking over digital arrest investigations, the report said.
At present, the agency has re-registered three major cases, including two cases from Gujarat linked to massive financial frauds and a high-profile Delhi case where a single victim was defrauded of Rs 22.92 crore.
The report said a high-level Inter-Departmental Committee chaired by senior officials held its third meeting on March 12 with stakeholders, including telecom operators, financial regulators, and digital platforms. It proposed the rollout of a Biometric Identity Verification System (BIVS) to enable real-time, cross-network monitoring of SIM card issuance. The DoT has been tasked with implementing this system by December 2026, it added.
The RBI has finalised a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) instructing banks to place temporary holds on suspicious transactions to curb money mule activities, the report said.
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While urging the Supreme Court to take record of the report, the MHA sought issuance of appropriate directions to DoT to implement measures identified by Inter-Departmental Committee by requiring due compliance by TSPs and enlisting their cooperation towards expediting notification and implementation of “Telecommunications (User Identification) Rules and the Biometric Identity Verification System (BIVS) for national level visibility of SIM issuance”.
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