When Mumbai-based stand-up comedian Ankita Shrivastav received a call in October 2024 from a man claiming to be from FedEx, she had no idea it would spiral into one of the most traumatic experiences of her life.
The caller alleged that a courier sent in her name to Iraq contained drugs and connected her over a video call to two men posing as police officers. For the next eight hours, Shrivastav was kept under what scammers described as a “digital arrest”, forced to stay on camera, prohibited from leaving her house or contacting anyone, while being interrogated about her finances and personal details.
“The pressure was intense and after a while, I felt confused and psychologically exhausted. I just wanted the ordeal to end,” Shrivastav told the BBC.
Exhausted and psychologically overwhelmed, she eventually approved transactions worth Rs 9 lakh, only to later realise that the entire operation was a sophisticated cyber fraud.
Shrivastav publicly recounted the incident for the first time in April through a comedy sketch uploaded to YouTube, saying she wanted people to understand that such scams can happen to anyone, regardless of education or awareness.
“‘You’re educated, how did you get scammed?’ – this is what anyone I spoke to about my experience told me,” Shrivastav says. “And that’s also a question I have repeatedly asked myself.”
Her experience reflects a rapidly growing cybercrime crisis in India.
According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report for 2023-24, cybercrime cases in India rose by nearly 18 per cent year-on-year, with losses from digital fraud crossing Rs 220 billion. More than 1 lakh cybercrime cases were registered in 2024, an increase of almost 50 per cent compared to 2021.
Among the most common frauds are “digital arrest” scams, where criminals impersonate law enforcement or government officials to intimidate victims into transferring money while remaining isolated during long video calls.
Cybercriminals are also increasingly using fake investment platforms, phishing emails, fraudulent OTP requests and artificial intelligence tools such as voice cloning to manipulate victims.
Experts believe the rise in cases highlights both better reporting mechanisms and the evolving sophistication of cybercrime in a rapidly digitising society.
Journalist and author Soumya Gupta, whose book Bharat Bluff: Inside the Cons of India’s Internet Revolution explores online fraud, said cyber scams are driven more by psychology than technology.
“These scams exploit fear, greed or emotional vulnerability. Once people are trapped, they often feel too ashamed or too confused to stop,” Gupta said.
She added that scammers frequently monitor people’s online behaviour and tailor schemes accordingly.
India has attempted to tackle the growing menace through multiple initiatives. In 2020, the government launched the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), which works with domestic and international agencies to investigate cyber offences.
Authorities have also introduced the cybercrime helpline number 1930, launched reporting portals and rolled out awareness campaigns to combat fraud, including AI-generated scams and deepfakes.
Home Minister Amit Shah recently said that I4C is collaborating with the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub to use artificial intelligence to identify “mule accounts”, bank accounts used to transfer and launder illegally obtained funds.
Despite these measures, the backlog in investigations remains substantial. NCRB data showed that by the end of 2024, nearly 1 lakh cybercrime cases were pending investigation, while around 75,000 were awaiting trial in courts.
For Shrivastav, the aftermath proved equally frustrating. She said repeated visits to police stations and banks yielded little progress in recovering her money.
“The scammers were always one step ahead of the authorities,” she said.
Experts continue to stress the importance of digital caution as internet penetration rises rapidly across the country. Government data shows that over 86 per cent of Indian households now have internet access.
Gupta urged people to be mindful of the information they share online and to seek help immediately if something feels suspicious.
“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And if something feels wrong, pause and ask for help,” she said.
