Digital Arrest Scams In India: Evaluating Legal Responses And Public Awareness
- IJLLR Journal
- 6 days ago
- 1 min read
Ms. Yashika Malik, Assistant Professor, MERI Professional and Law Institute
ABSTRACT
As digitization has accelerated in India, it has left us with a peculiar, and alarming, digital form of criminal activity – the digital arrest scam. In these cases, the scammers pretend to be police and regulatory officials on the phone or video call, compelling the victim to wire large amounts of money that are "needed for immediate arrest. This article discusses the architecture, legal classification and institutional response to digital arrest scam in India. By analyzing the legal provisions of the current laws, namely the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the Information Technology Act, 2000 as well as criminological theory and reviewing the judicial and executive responses, it concludes that the current laws are not properly built to involve the impersonation, extortion and transnational organised nature of this offence. The article also argues that public awareness campaigns, although important, are often ineffective, due to the failure to consider the psychological compliance to fear, which is the basis of victimisation. This article reviews the possible gaps in enforcement, the vulnerabilities of the financial sector, and the cross-border nature of these syndicates to suggest a coordinated approach in which more specific laws, international collaboration, and citizen education incorporating a psychological dimension are all employed.
Keywords: digital arrest, cybercrime, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, transnational fraud, victim psychology, legal reform
