Security News > 2024 > August > 'Digital arrest' scams are big in India and may be spreading

A woman in the Indian city of Delhi last week found herself under "Digital arrest" - a form of scam in which victims make payments to criminals posing as law enforcement officers.

Local media reported that the suspects had extorted others in a similar manner - posing as CBI officers and threatening to arrest family members of victims.

While the technique of holding victims in virtual custody is novel, digital arrest fraud is similar to many other scams in its use of fear to extract payments from victims.

"With a mix of data from social media and phone calls, scammers make people follow their commands, at times for days, and empty out their bank accounts," Mudit Bansal, threat intelligence researcher at Indian infosec firm CloudSEK, told The Register.

According to the researcher, common pretexts for a digital arrest include authorities intercepting contraband in a package, or a spouse or child involved in peddling drugs, or cases of sexual violence.

Most examples of digital arrest scams appear to come from India.

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https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/08/13/india_digital_arrest_scams/