I got a "digital arrest" call — what is it and what do I do?

As of 24 October 2026: the service descriptions, prices and turnaround figures on this page are current.

How does the digital-arrest script work?

The script has four movements. First, the caller identifies themselves as CBI, ED, income-tax or police, usually with a name and a badge number that sounds plausible. Second, they assert that a case exists against you, often for money laundering or a fictitious drug or cyber crime. Third, they demand immediate payment, often framed as a 'transfer to a personal account for safekeeping' or a 'settlement' to avoid arrest. Fourth, they isolate you: a continuous video call with instructions to stay on the line, sometimes with a second actor posing as a senior officer. The case numbers and documents are forged, and the call is the whole mechanism. No genuine agency conducts an arrest or investigation over a video call, and none will accept money.

Why are the video call and the forged documents the pressure tools?

They remove the two things that normally protect you. The continuous call prevents you from talking to anyone who might recognise the fraud, and it exploits a real phenomenon: a genuine police verification video call can look and sound alarming. The forged case number and a fabricated document supply the apparent authority that a spoken claim lacks, so the victim does not check. The isolation also means the victim has no chance to apply the one rule that defeats it, which is to hang up and verify independently on an official number. Over 21,900 complaints worth more than Rs 647 crore in eight months of 2026 confirm this is industrial-scale, and the Supreme Court has accordingly directed faster recovery, a kill switch for long calls and a zero-FIR mechanism.

What should I do in the first five minutes?

Four steps. Hang up, and if the call continues, switch the phone to airplane mode or turn it off, because the isolation is the attack. Do not argue and do not confirm anything. Tell one person outside the call, a family member or a colleague, and say plainly, 'I am being asked to pay money by someone claiming to be police.' Then verify independently: if a real agency is involved, a call back to the agency's official number will connect you to a real station, and the real agency will have your address on file. If money has already been sent, call your bank's fraud helpline immediately, then report on cybercrime.gov.in and helpline 1930, because the five-calendar-day condition for compensation runs from the transaction.

What happens after I report?

The complaint on cybercrime.gov.in generates a report number, and a police station is allotted. From there, the money trail is pursued, and the Money Restoration Portal is the mechanism for money still held in fraudster accounts. Where a zero-FIR is possible, the complaint can be transferred so the victim does not have to travel to the station where the fraud was registered, which matters in the digital-arrest case because the victim is often in a different state from the registered address. Compensation under RBI's June 2026 instructions effective 1 January 2027, of 85% of net loss or Rs 25,000 for a genuine individual victim with a gross loss up to Rs 50,000, requires the bank report and the NCRP or 1930 report within five calendar days.

What are the frequently asked questions?