New Delhi:
WhatsApp has banned more than 9,400 accounts linked to so-called “digital arrest” scams in India over a 12-week period starting January 2026, the Central government has informed the Supreme Court. The action was part of a targeted enforcement drive carried out in coordination with government agencies and the company has since rolled out tools to detect fraud patterns.
The tools include a logo-matching system, logging of account display names, a large language model to identify evolving scam tactics, and a database to flag repeat offenders.
The disclosure was made through submissions by Attorney General R Venkataramani in the ongoing suo motu proceedings on the rise of such frauds, where fraudsters impersonate law enforcement and judicial officials to extort money. They display names such as “Delhi Police”, “Mumbai HQ”, “CBI”, and “ATS Department”, along with official-looking logos, to project authority.
WhatsApp said its investigation found a large number of accounts targeting Indian users were being operated from southeast Asia, particularly Cambodia.
The crackdown followed a probe started after inputs from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and the Telecom Department.
The company stressed that it does not treat government inputs as isolated complaints. “Each signal is treated as a seed to map and disrupt the entire criminal network,” it said. While government agencies flagged around 3,800 accounts, WhatsApp’s internal systems helped expand the action significantly, leading to thousands more accounts being taken down.
WhatsApp said it is also introducing product changes aimed at preventing fraud at the first point of contact. These include warnings for suspicious first-time messages, visibility of account age for unknown contacts, suppression of profile photos in high-risk interactions, and enhanced caller information for unknown numbers.
While remarking that these steps would to lead to a decline in such scams, WhatsApp acknowledged limits to its role, noting that many such operations rely on off-platform infrastructure such as payments and international criminal networks. “WhatsApp can disrupt the accounts and networks; dismantling the underlying criminal operations requires coordinated multi-jurisdictional law enforcement action,” it said.
Centre Proposes Multi-Agency Crackdown, SIM Verification Reforms
The government has submitted a detailed report before the Supreme Court outlining a coordinated, multi-agency strategy to tackle the growing menace of digital arrest scams, proposing measures ranging from biometric SIM verification to temporary debit holds on suspicious bank accounts.
The report, prepared after consultations with multiple stakeholders, has urged the court to issue directions to key authorities, including the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), to ensure uniform and time-bound implementation of safeguards.
A key focus of the recommendations, submitted by the Attorney General of India on behalf of the Centre, is tightening telecom controls to curb the misuse of SIM cards.
The Centre has called for expedited implementation of the Telecommunications (User Identification) Rules and a Biometric Identity Verification System to ensure nationwide visibility of SIM issuance. Telecom service providers have been asked to strictly comply with these frameworks and assist in their rollout.
The report also emphasises stronger verification and accountability mechanisms for Point of Sale (PoS) vendors involved in SIM activation, in line with the DoT’s August 31, 2023 circular. It proposes swift blocking of suspicious or fraudulent SIM cards used in cybercrime cases, including digital arrest scams.
Additionally, telecom operators and their PoS agents have been asked to extend full cooperation to law enforcement agencies by enabling real-time sharing of subscriber activation details and PoS data during investigations.
The developments come as the Supreme Court continues to examine the surge in digital arrest scams. The court has called for coordinated nationwide action and sought status reports from agencies.