Karnataka residents have lost Rs 109.01 crore in 2024 to “digital arrest” scams, in which fraudsters impersonate law enforcement officials to deceive people into transferring large sums of money, Home Minister G Parameshwara said on Thursday. Of that amount, law enforcement agencies recovered less than one-tenth, totalling Rs 9.45 crore, he said.
Responding to a question by BJP MLC K Prathap Simha Nayak in Karnataka Legislative Council, Parameshwara said 641 “digital arrest” cases were reported in the state this year and of these, 480—approximately three-fourths—were in Bengaluru city. He said 24 cases were reported in Mysuru and 21 in Mangaluru.
He said the Karnataka Police had arrested 27 accused in connection with these cases. However, data shows that none of the accused in “digital arrest” cases registered in Bengaluru has been arrested yet.
The minister’s written reply said the police had tracked more than 700 social media accounts and groups that trapped the victims and deactivated them. These included 268 Facebook groups, 465 Telegram groups, 15 Instagram accounts, and 61 WhatsApp groups.
“In order to prevent such incidents, awareness programmes are being held in schools and colleges to prevent people from falling prey. Moreover, campaigns are being held on social media platforms about the issue,” Parameshwara said.
What is “digital arrest”?
“Digital arrest” scammers typically follow a similar playbook. They make phone or video calls to their targets while impersonating officials from law enforcement agencies like the police or regulatory bodies, such as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). In some cases, they have even posed as judges and staged fake court hearings. These fraudsters then extort money from their targets by creating an atmosphere of fear, using threats of surveillance, arrest, and imprisonment.
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