WHEN SCAM CALLS TURN INTO ‘VIRTUAL CUSTODY’

When the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of complaints from a 73-year-old Ambala woman and her husband—duped of over Rs 1 crore by callers flashing forged Supreme Court orders on WhatsApp—it called the trend a “direct assault on the dignity of the judiciary.”

- TDG NETWORK

Representative image.

Those “digital arrest” scams have now prompted the Court to hand investigations to the CBI in a nationwide probe, after being told that nearly Rs3,000 crore may already have been siphoned off from Indians.

Police and cyber officials describe a chillingly standard script:

1. The hook: A call claiming to be from a courier company, bank, telecom firm or crime branch. A “parcel with drugs,” a “SIM used in a crime,” or “KYC failure” is flagged.

2. Escalation to authority: The call is “transferred” to someone posing as a police officer, CBI/ED official or even a “Supreme Court officer.” Victims are sent forged FIRs or court documents on WhatsApp.

3. Digital custody: Victims are told they are “under digital arrest” and must remain on continuous video call—sometimes in a hotel room—until “verification” is complete. They are instructed not to speak to family or visit a police station.