The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to launch an investigation into digital arrest scams in India. .A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi today took note of three kinds of cybercrime highlighted by amicus curiae - namely digital arrest scams, investment scams and part-time job scams.It noted that such cybercrimes may involve extortion attempts or a scheme to lure victims to deposit large sums of money before they are duped.It went on to note that investigation into digital arrest scams must be prioritised by the CBI. "Digital arrests scams require immediate attention of the premier investigating agency of the country. Therefore we proceed with a clear direction that CBI shall firstly investigate cases on digital arrests scam. The other categories of scams shall be taken up in the next stages," the Court ordered. .It also issued the following directions to strengthen the CBI probe ordered today.- The CBI shall have free hand to probe the role of bankers under the Prevention of Corruption Act, where bank accounts are opened for the purposes of digital arrest scams.- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been asked to assist this court as to whether artificial intelligence or machine learning could be implemented to identify such suspicious accounts and freeze such proceeds of crime.- The authorities under the Information Technology Intermediary Rules 2021 have been ordered to cooperate with the CBI as and when required during the probe. - States that have not granted consent to CBI for investigations within their respective States have been directed to grant consent for the probe, so that the CBI can carry out comprehensive action on a pan-India basis.- Having regard to the magnitude of such crimes and the fact that these crimes could extend beyond India's territorial jurisdiction, the CBI should request Interpol authorities for assistance as and when needed.- If facts cited expose an alarming and negligent approach of telecom service providers in issuing SiIM cards or multiple SIM in the same name, the Department of Telecom is to submit a proposal to the Court for preventing such misuse of SIM cards.- States are to expeditiously establish State cybercrime centres. If any impediment is faced, States should inform the Court of the same..The Court passed the order in a suo motu case initiated by it in October this year to address the growing menace of digital arrest scams across the country.The Bench today noted that more and more digital arrest scam cases have come to light since the Court took judicial notice of the issue. It also expressed concern that senior citizens are often targeted in such scams. "No sooner cognizance was taken, several victims have emerged and impleadment applications have been filed. Pursuant to our earlier directions, it is revealed that several FIRs have been registered in different States. The gravity and enormity of the crime can be judged by the fact that most of the States in one voice has stated that most of the time senior citizens have been targeted by the fraudsters by various means," it said.The Court added, "Fraudsters continue to coin different terms to defraud. In part time jobs scam the victims are lured to perform free tasks like posting positive reviews, etc. and when the right stage come, victims are made to pay large amounts."The Court also emphasised that when senior citizens are targeted in such cybercrime, such cases must be investigated on priority. During the last hearing of the matter, the Court had expressed shock that almost ₹3,000 crores were extorted from people in cyber frauds, particularly digital arrest scams..The suo motu case was registered after a couple, who are senior citizens, wrote to the Supreme Court stating that they were defrauded of ₹1.5 crore between September 1 and 16 by scammers impersonating as officials of the CBI, Intelligence Bureau and the judiciary. The fraudsters had contacted them through phone and video conference and showed them forged Supreme Court orders to coerce payment under threat of arrest.Two FIRs were subsequently registered with the cybercrime branch at Ambala, revealing an organised pattern of such offences targeting senior citizens. The Court took note of media reports suggesting that similar scams had occurred across several States and on October 17 sought responses from the Central government and the CBI. It also requested the assistance of the Attorney General for India..[Live Coverage].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.
