The nightmare for the Sachdevas from Ambala, Haryana began when money meant for their son-in-law was mistakenly credited to someone else’s account. Vikram Singh got 15,000 rupees that was meant for Vikram Kumar, their son-in-law.
The Sachdevas went to Punjab Sindh Bank to get the mistake rectified. But the visit triggered a series of events that led to the elderly couple’s ‘digital arrest’ for nearly a fortnight.
Digital arrest is a scam where fraudsters impersonate police officials and use fake documents and bogus threats of arrest and frozen bank accounts, to extort money from victims.
Shortly after a visit to the bank, the couple–retired government employees Shashi and Harish–got a call from someone who claimed their Aadhaar card was being misused and that they were key suspects in a ₹1,100 crore money laundering scam.
For 10 days starting from September 3, 2025 the couple were caught in a Truman Show-type nightmare where scammers who purported to be officials from the police, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), continuously monitored them through Skype video calls.
“We had to take permission for every little thing - even if we wanted a bathroom break,” Harish Sachdeva told Decode.
The couple were threatened with legal action by scammers impersonating police and CBI officials, and coerced to fork over their life savings, including money from the gold they encashed, which was worth more than ₹1.05 crores during the fortnight they were ‘digitally arrested’. “We were not allowed to go anywhere or talk to anyone,” Harish said. In fact, he recalled how he was timed to the second when he stepped out to go to a neighbour’s house to attend a prayer service held for a friend he lost that week.
“They knew when I went to buy milk and which rickshawwala I spoke to,” he said, recalling the ordeal. The scamsters even threatened their granddaughter.
The fraudsters relied on fake documents from authorities like the CBI, ED, and even an order from a Supreme Court judge “Sanjiv Khanna”.
While the judge is real, the order is not.
The Sachdevas believe that once the scammers realised they had got all the money they could get, they sent a message to the couple’s daughter. On September 16, with their daughter’s help, they finally managed to “free” themselves and switch off their phone.
The couple immediately filed an FIR and decided to narrate their ordeal in a letter to the Supreme Court hoping to bring attention to the scam. The top court heeded this letter and on October 17, took suo motu note of the rise in digital arrest scams. It directed all states and union territories to give details of all FIRs related to digital arrest scams, and considered transferring the probe of all cases to the CBI.
Scammers Hijack Our Thinking: Cyber Psychologist
Cyber psychologist Nirali Bhatia said Indians fall prey to digital arrests not because they are careless, but because the scams are designed to manipulate us emotionally and psychologically, hijacking our rational thinking. “The scammers know exactly which button to press and often rely on a dangerous mix of fear, psychological manipulation, and authority bias,” Bhatia said.
“See the moment someone claims to be from the police, or a government agency which they may be able to ‘validate’ with forged documents - the panic sets in,” Bhatia said, adding that, “Most of us are law-abiding citizens, and often have the mindset that we don’t want to get in any trouble.”
An Epidemic Of Digital Arrest Scams
Rapid digitisation and growing ease of online money transfers have unintentionally led to a surge in cyber fraud. New cases of digital arrests are reported daily with scammers targeting the elderly and working professionals in cities.
Indians lost about ₹120.3 crore to scams involving digital arrest in the first quarter of 2024, a Central Reserve Police Force report–quoting a study done by NGO PRAHAR–said.
To combat this crime, the government allocated ₹782 crore towards cybersecurity projects in its Union Budget 2025-2026.
Data Leaks Exacerbate The Problem
Rupesh Mittal, advocate and founder of Cyber Jagriti Foundation, said scammers get hold of profiles and potential victims from stolen data or data leaks.
“The Dominos and BigBasket data breaches were a wealth of information about people and their purchase history. This data, which includes personal details and phone numbers, is then used by scammers to trap people in a targeted, sophisticated manner.
Supreme Court Slow To Respond To Digital Arrests
It is unclear when the first digital arrest scam was reported, however, government data shows the number of incidents tripled between 2022-2024.
In October 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about it in his ‘Mann ki Baat’ radio show. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India and all banks regularly send public service advisory messages.
Earlier this year in July, a court in West Bengal said digital arrests were akin to “economic terrorism” while sentencing nine people to life imprisonment in a digital arrest scam. This is perhaps among one of the first convictions in India. Around the same time, in Uttar Pradesh, a Lucknow court convicted and sentenced a man to multiple jail terms upto seven years for a digital arrest scam where he impersonated a CBI officer and duped a doctor of ₹85 lakh in May 2024.
However, the country’s highest court only took note of digital arrests in October this year.
Cyber security expert and journalist Srinivas Kodali said the Supreme Court’s decision to take suo motu note may not do much unless systemic problems are addressed. “It is how society perceives the everyday police and the policing establishment to be corrupt,” Kodali said. “So when you see a cop online asking you to pay a bribe - you will do that,” he added.
Long-term resolution depends on how institutions like the police, banks, and courts respond to individuals who’ve been scammed.
Two Years After Her Digital Arrest, Gurgaon Resident’s Solitary Battle
Exactly two years ago, Shweta Arya got a call from the “customs” department telling her she was an accused in a human trafficking racket after they recovered “her” parcel with 16 passports and 58 debit cards.
Arya was initially baffled and brushed it off, rightly thinking she was being scammed. However, she stayed online just to see where the call would lead. That mistake proved to be costly.
Arya was at her workplace in Gurgaon when she got the call. The callers threatened her with legal action and coerced her to go home from where she could continue the conversation. At home, she was made to download Skype and forced to remain online for the next eight days. Meanwhile, Arya’s iPhone was cloned, and she lost control. “I couldn’t even disconnect the call,” she told Decode.
“I was in a haze. It seems like I was hypnotised. They knew all my details - family, work, friends. Everything. They would threaten to hurt my family and said they were watching me. At the time, I was so scared, and in their control, I would've probably committed murder if they had asked me to.”
Arya saw her life savings–including her fixed deposits and recurring deposits–being broken and credited to her account. She had lost access to her phone, apps, messages, and even calls. The fraudsters could read the OTPs, and even approve the transactions when the bank’s IVR called to confirm the large deposits.
During this period, Arya had locked herself home. She said she was ashamed and worried about the stigma associated with being scammed in such a manner. “Finally, a friend got through. Somehow I could answer his call and he told me how to disconnect.”
“I immediately went to the police and alerted the banks,” Arya said.
But she said that was like stepping into a different nightmare.
“At first, the police refused to even register my complaint. I was gaslit and told it was all my fault for answering such calls and transferring the money,” Arya said.
Unlike the Sachdeva’s who managed to immediately file an FIR, it took Arya 20 days to register her case. It took a lot of chasing and pulling strings to reach this far. But since then, it's been radio silence.
Arya said it is like she hit a brick wall.
“It has been two years, but there’s no update. No progress. I wrote to the RBI, I wrote to the banks, I followed up with the police, but nothing. I even called 1930 (the central hotline to report cyber crimes) - but the call kept dropping,” she said.
Arya’s case is common amongst those who have been duped. Social media is full of testimonies from people who’ve been scammed. She has stopped following up with the police. They have all but told her that the case will be closed because they can't help her trace the money.
“I am told all the money was transferred out of the account that was flagged. The cops even threatened me at my last visit, so I stopped going now,” she said, adding that she will continue trying to follow up on the phone.
Scams Not About Intelligence But About Control: Psychologist
Cyber psychologist Niral Bhatia said scammers manipulate victims by cutting off their contact with anyone else.
“This isolation where you are not allowed to talk to anybody, or made to stay away from people, and forced to remain on the screen in the line of their sight magnifies the fear and cuts you off from any kind of validation or reaching out for help,” Bhatia told Decode. “...even the most intelligent, rational, logical person can also be manipulated in getting trapped in the scam,” she added.
“This scam is not about how smart or intelligent you are, but it is about the emotional control they have on you,” Bhatia said.
