How mind games, fear psychosis are driving ‘digital arrest’ scams

“My mind simply went blank.” That’s how an assistant director with a financial institution described the moment a man, posing as a police officer over a video call, aggressively accused her of drug trafficking and put her into “digital custody” last year. She ended up paying nearly ₹1 lakh as the caller held her hostage in her bedroom, isolated from her family, for 90 minutes.A senior IT professional recounted his “digital arrest” in which he “almost lost” ₹25 lakh. “It felt like I had been hypnotised. I could not think and was about to transfer ₹25 lakh to their account when I lost my WiFi connection. That was when I snapped out of the stupor and realised what I had been about to do,” he said.Feeling “paralysed with fear”, “blanking out” and “inability to think clearly” are recurring descriptions used by victims to convey how they fell prey to digital arrest scams.Digital arrest frauds do not involve just simple deception. The scammers employ psychological manipulation, systematically isolating their targets, fabricating elaborate realities and leveraging sophisticated techniques to create a sense of inescapable panic. This could be a possible explanation why scammers continue to ensnare victims.Last year, Mumbai police registered 195 cases of digital arrest fraud. The figure has already reached 15 in the first two months of this year.Recalling how she was duped, the assistant director said she was about to leave for work when a call came in around 8.45am. The caller had her Aadhaar number and claimed a parcel she had sent was found containing drugs. “I was asked to lock myself in my bedroom and not reach out to my family. The caller threatened if an FIR was registered, it would jeopardise my chances of flying abroad. My only thought at that moment was to get out of the situation by complying with his demands,” she said.“Individuals targeted in these scams often possess a certain degree of financial stability, reputation, and respect in society. When these aspects are threatened, particularly a threat to life, individuals become extremely vulnerable,” said consultant psychiatrist Dr Avinash De Sousa.A senior citizen from a western suburb said he blindly followed a fraudster’s instructions and paid up ₹9 lakh after being threatened with possible harm to his daughter.Dr De Sousa said in the face of perceived threats to loved ones, victims tend to seek the most immediate solution. “Nobody wants their family to come to harm. If paying money appears to be the easiest way to resolve the situation, that is what one will do,” he said. medium119372856 medium119372870 medium119372886Cyber police say while senior citizens form a majority of victims, there are well-qualified professionals such as bankers, doctors, and directors of multinational companies too.Cyber psychologist Nirali Bhatia attributed this vulnerability to our innate tendency to comply with instructions from perceived authority figures. “An individual wearing a khaki uniform, displaying a police logo in the background, or wearing a judge’s robes during a video call provides significant visual validation,” she said.By claiming access to private information such as Aadhaar or PAN numbers or bank account details, fraudsters create the illusion of legitimate legal action. “Once fear clouds judgement, logical thinking becomes impossible. The manufactured sense of urgency does not let the individual take a pause for rational consideration,” Bhatia added.A man in his 40s, who lost ₹32 lakh to fraudsters, said he had received a call from a fake “CBI officer” accusing him of false advertising. The next day, he was given official-looking documents on a Supreme Court letterhead with stamp and seal. “There was no room for doubt,” he said.Former IPS officer-turned-lawyer YP Singh said perpetrators utilise information sourced from the internet to construct convincing scenarios, exploiting their targets’ lack of legal knowledge.Cyber lawyer Dr Prashant Mali said scammers enhance their credibility by using actual data and AI-generated videos.“Even individuals with advanced technical knowledge, including IIT graduates and cybersecurity professionals, succumb to these scams because fear trumps knowledge in high-pressure situations. Many victims assume a call from a seemingly verified number or an official-sounding entity must be legitimate. They severely underestimate the sophistication of these scammers,” Mali said, advocating for dedicated cyber courts with specialised judges and prosecutors.“No such practice as digital arrest exists,” said DCP (crime & cyber) Datta Nalawade. “People often fall prey to these scams due to insufficient awareness, misplaced trust in online interactions and exploitation through social engineering tactics.”