THE SUPREME COURT TODAY issued notices to all States and Union Territories seeking details of investigations and pending cases linked to the growing menace of ‘digital arrest’ scams, in which cybercriminals impersonate police, enforcement, or judicial officials to extort money from citizens under the threat of arrest and property seizure.
A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi asked all States to furnish the number of such cases currently under probe and posted the matter for further hearing on November 3.
The Court also indicated that it may consider handing over the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (‘CBI’) to ensure a coordinated pan-India probe.
“Please find out whether the CBI has the resources to handle all the cases,” the Bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Union and informed the Court that the CBI was already investigating a few such instances.
The bench said that it was looking at a uniform probe across the country, but will not issue any direction today without hearing from the States.
The top Court had, on October 17, 2025, taken suo motu cognisance of a complaint filed by a senior citizen couple from Ambala, Haryana, who were defrauded of ₹1.05 crore between September 3 and 16, 2025. The victims were reportedly contacted by fraudsters posing as officials of the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, and even the Supreme Court, who showed forged judicial orders via video calls and WhatsApp messages to threaten them with arrest and seizure of property unless they transferred funds.
