Fraud Causes Huge Losses
In Delhi and other cities, cybercriminals used a “digital arrest scam” — posing as law enforcement officers to threaten victims and coerce them into transferring funds. In one case, suspects including an MBA graduate and CA aspirant were arrested for a ₹14 crore scam.
These scams remain a rampant threat across India with large sums extracted from elderly, wealthy, and high-profile individuals.
Sophisticated AI tools (voice cloning, realistic videos) are being used to impersonate officials, family members, or trusted public figures. This increases the risk of people being tricked into sending money or sharing sensitive data.
A recent global report found:
Indians see 13 scam messages per day on average.
Many scams have no suspicious links and look ordinary.
Financial losses from scams are widespread and often quick.
Bank of Baroda issued an advisory after senior citizens were targeted through fake messages and calls claiming benefits or renewals of pensioner cards to harvest personal and financial data.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing 234 cyber fraud cases including cryptocurrency scams, fake loans, deceptive investments and call centre operations. Investigation points to crypto misuse linked to foreign entities — highlighting cross-border scam networks