Digital Arrest Scams: Govt. Blocks Over 83,000 WhatsApp Accounts And 3,962 Skype IDs

The Ministry of Home Affairs has stepped up its efforts to check the growing number of cybercrimes and digital arrest scams in India. In response to a parliamentary inquiry from DMK MP Tiruchi Siva, Minister of State for Home Affairs Sanjay Bandi Kumar gave a written reply. According to Kumar, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has taken action against digital arrest scams by identifying and blocking more than 3,962 Skype IDs and 83,668 WhatsApp accounts that were being used in these fraudulent operations.

The minister wrote that the identified fraudulent accounts were used in schemes where perpetrators falsely represented themselves as law enforcement personnel to manipulate victims into transferring money.

Kumar further detailed that the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has coordinated with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to start an awareness campaign featuring caller tunes. 

This initiative specifically promotes the dedicated Cyber Crime Helpline Number 1930 and directs citizens to the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal for reporting incidents. 

Meanwhile, the DoT has also launched a multilingual caller tune campaign to raise public awareness about these threats. 

This initiative complements other educational efforts including newspaper advertisements, announcements in the Delhi Metro, collaborations with social media influencers, and information shared through the CyberDost social media channels. 

All campaigns prominently feature the Cyber Crime Helpline Number 1930.

The home ministry has also set up the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre as a dedicated office to address cyber crimes.