New Delhi, Mar 16: The Supreme Court on Monday said it will take up next week a suo motu matter concerning victims of the growing “digital arrest” cyber fraud, in which scammers impersonate law enforcement or government officials to extort money from individuals through intimidation.
The issue was mentioned before a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi by Attorney General R Venkataramani, who informed the court that a status report on the matter would be submitted during the day.
Venkataramani told the bench that progress was being made in addressing the problem and requested that the matter, which was listed for hearing on Monday, be scheduled for the coming week. The bench agreed, stating that the case would be listed for hearing at the earliest.
Digital arrest scams have emerged as a serious cybercrime threat in recent years. In such cases, fraudsters contact victims through audio or video calls while posing as police officers, court officials or representatives of government agencies. They create fear by claiming the victim is involved in illegal activities and then pressure them into transferring money to avoid arrest.
Earlier, on February 9, the apex court had expressed strong concern over the scale of such cyber frauds, describing the siphoning of more than ₹54,000 crore through digital scams as nothing short of “robbery or dacoity.”
The court had directed the Centre to formulate a standard operating procedure (SoP) to tackle the menace in consultation with key stakeholders including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), banks and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
During previous hearings, the bench emphasised that banks must take a proactive role in preventing cyber-enabled financial frauds and safeguarding customers.
The court had also instructed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to identify digital arrest-related cases across the country and directed the governments of Gujarat and Delhi to grant the necessary sanction to the agency to pursue investigations.
In addition, the court asked the RBI, DoT and other authorities to jointly develop a framework for compensating victims affected by such scams. It said authorities should adopt a pragmatic and liberal approach while deciding compensation claims.
The Attorney General had earlier informed the bench that the RBI has prepared a draft SoP for banks to respond to such cases. The proposed mechanism includes measures allowing banks to place temporary debit holds on suspicious transactions in order to prevent further financial loss.
Following this, the court directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to formally adopt the RBI’s proposed guidelines and ensure their implementation across the country.
Earlier, on December 1, the apex court had also ordered the CBI to conduct a unified pan-India investigation into digital arrest cases and questioned the RBI over why advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence were not being used to identify and freeze bank accounts used by cyber criminals.