The Supreme Court on Monday directed the CBI to conduct a unified, nationwide investigation into the fast-rising cases of digital arrest scams and questioned the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on why Artificial Intelligence is not being used to detect and freeze bank accounts operated by cybercriminals.
Digital arrest scams involve fraudsters impersonating police, court officials or government agencies through audio and video calls, coercing victims—often senior citizens—into paying money by threatening them with fabricated charges.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked all states, including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana, to grant the CBI consent to investigate such cases within their jurisdictions. The directive came during a suo motu hearing based on a complaint filed by an elderly Haryana couple who lost their savings to cyber fraud.
The court issued a notice to the RBI seeking an explanation for not deploying AI or machine learning tools to proactively track and freeze scam-linked accounts. It also directed IT intermediaries to fully cooperate with CBI investigators and asked the agency to seek assistance from Interpol to reach scammers operating from offshore tax havens.
The bench further instructed the Department of Telecom to ensure telecom providers do not issue multiple SIM cards to a single user or entity—an enabler frequently exploited in cybercrime. States and UTs have been asked to establish regional cybercrime coordination centres to streamline intelligence sharing with the CBI.
The court made it clear that all states, UTs, and police agencies are empowered to freeze accounts used to defraud citizens, and ordered the CBI to investigate bank officials complicit in operating mule accounts that facilitate the laundering of illicit funds.
Earlier, on November 3, the bench had described the surge in digital arrest scams—responsible for over ₹3,000 crore in losses—as alarming, saying such crimes must be dealt with “with an iron hand.”
