On February 9th, the Supreme Court (with Chief Justice Surya Kant leading the discussion) decided to look into online fraud, including these fake “digital arrests”, on its own. They asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and others to plan how people who are victims of these scams will be compensated. Attorney General R Venkataramani submitted the most recent report to the court.
The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (from the Home Ministry) said WhatsApp did a thorough investigation lasting several weeks, starting in January s2026, specifically looking at these scams targeting people in India. WhatsApp systematically found where the scams started, tracked how they were connected, blocked the scam networks, and built automated defenses that will work on a large scale.
Centre to SC: 9,400 WhatsApp bans in digital arrest probe
WhatsApp has banned 9,400 accounts that they believe were involved. Many of these scam accounts were operating from Southeast Asia, and Cambodia in particular. The government initially pointed out around 3,800 accounts, but WhatsApp’s own systems found a much larger network, leading to thousands more being banned.
WhatsApp is now introducing some changes to further protect people. They include being able to find the logos of the police or government on account pictures, and warning people when they get a call from a very new account or one that hasn’t been used for a while – these are common with scams.
How WhatsApp is tightening safeguards
Suspicious callers’ profile pictures will now be automatically hidden to make it harder for scammers to look like they have authority. WhatsApp also says that within four to six months they will require the SIM card in your phone to be active and officially registered to your name (KYC verified) for WhatsApp to work.
WhatsApp is creating a list of content used in scams to easily identify and ban people who use it again. They are also improving how they show you who is calling and giving warnings for numbers you don’t recognize, and showing you how old an account is. WhatsApp’s plan is to stop the whole scam network, and they admit that fully stopping these crimes will need cooperation between many countries.
The Department of Telecommunications and phone companies have agreed to a strict timeline for getting rid of fraudulent SIM cards. A committee is working to be able to block suspicious SIMs within two or three hours of them being identified, the report states.
Telecom and banking measures to curb fraud
A high-level committee with representatives from phone companies, financial regulators and digital platforms met for the third time on March t12th. A main idea coming from the committee is to introduce a Biometric Identity Verification System. This would monitor SIM card issuing across all networks in real time. The Department of Telecommunications is supposed to have this system in place by December 2026.
Separately, the RBI has finalized a Standard Operating Procedure. This instructs banks to temporarily stop suspicious transactions to stop “money mules” (people who move money for fraudsters). The goal is to slow down the flow of money in the scam, giving investigators time to investigate and hopefully get the money back.
The Home Ministry has asked the Supreme Court for directions, and wants the Department of Telecommunications to make phone companies follow the new rules. They also want the Telecommunications (User Identification) Rules and the Biometric Identity Verification System to be announced and put into effect quickly, and for suspicious SIMs to be blocked faster.
The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) says they will take over investigations of digital arrest scams when the loss is Rs 10 crore (about $1.2 million) or more. This is so that central resources go to the biggest cases that involve many different areas.
CBI threshold and ongoing probes
The CBI has already started re-investigating three major cases: two from Gujarat with huge amounts of money being stolen, and a high-profile case in Delhi where one person lost Rs 22.92 crore (about $2.75 million).
In a typical digital arrest scam, someone pretends to be the police or a government official. They call or message people on apps like WhatsApp or Signal and say they are involved in a crime (like drug dealing or money laundering) and will be arrested or taken to court unless something is done.
Inside the scam and public guidance
Scammers will often keep their victims on video calls for hours, tell them not to speak to their families, and ask for personal details like Aadhaar numbers, bank information or One-Time Passwords (OTPs). Eventually they will ask for money to ‘close the case’ or ‘clear your name’. A “digital arrest” is not a real thing, and the police will not arrest you by phone or video.
The Supreme Court is very concerned about this. They have said that scammers are even making fake court orders with forged signatures. They say this is a very worrying situation and damages people’s trust in the system.
What happens now depends on everyone working together. The Court is looking at the report and the steps asked for. The Department of Telecommunications’ Biometric Identity Verification System, quicker blocking of SIMs and the RBI’s Standard Operating Procedure will be crucial. WhatsApp is continuing to stop scams at the network level, but, as they say, because these scams cross borders, continued cooperation between agencies in different countries and internationally is essential.
Basic precautions highlighted in the report include:
– Stay calm and disconnect threatening calls or videos.
– Do not share Aadhaar, bank details, OTPs or passwords.
– Do not transfer money to settle a supposed case.
– Verify claims with your nearest police station yourself.
– Report incidents on the cyber crime helpline or portal.
– Inform a trusted family member immediately.
