New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued an official warning on its verified X (formerly Twitter) account, urging citizens to remain cautious of threats related to “digital arrests.” The agency clarified that no investigative authority in India has any power to conduct digital arrests. ED emphasized that no agency arrests individuals through online or digital means.
Cases of so-called “digital arrests” have been rising rapidly across India. Fear of agencies such as the ED, Income Tax Department, and the Police has made ordinary citizens vulnerable to such scams. At the mere mention of these authorities, people often panic—giving cyber fraudsters the perfect opportunity to exploit them.
In Madhya Pradesh alone, several cases of digital arrest scams have surfaced over the past few months. The State Cyber Police have exposed more than 50 such cases in cities like Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, and Jabalpur. Acting on its own initiative, the cyber police have registered multiple cases.
These fraudsters pose as officers of the ED, CBI, Police, or Customs Department and deceive common citizens. Under the guise of “digital arrests,” they extort large sums of money through UPI transactions or other online methods.
Authorities are now working to raise public awareness to prevent such scams. It is important to understand that no agency possesses the legal authority to carry out digital arrests. The ED’s name, often associated with fear and intimidation, has become a convenient tool for con artists to defraud people.
For several years, scams under the pretext of digital arrests have been prevalent in India—a phenomenon rarely seen in other countries. The primary reason is the deep-rooted fear of agencies like the CBI, Police, and Income Tax Department in the minds of Indian citizens. When fraudsters use these names, people often stop thinking rationally out of fear and anxiety. As a result, ordinary individuals continue to fall victim to scams involving losses of millions of rupees.
