New Delhi: With cyber fraud losses in India touching ₹800 crore in 2026, the Supreme Court has directed WhatsApp and other digital intermediaries to present concrete measures to prevent digital arrest scams and related online crimes.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant issued the directions while hearing the suo motu case titled In Re: Victims of Digital Arrest Related to Forged Documents. The matter was heard on October 29, with the court asking technology platforms to submit their proposed safeguards both before the Supreme Court and the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C).
Representing WhatsApp, senior advocate Kapil Sibal informed the bench that the messaging platform had already taken action against 9,400 accounts suspected of involvement in fraudulent activities. He also said the company was developing software capable of detecting potentially suspicious accounts and alerting users to possible risks.
WhatsApp is expected to submit an affidavit detailing the preventive measures it has undertaken. The Supreme Court has scheduled the next hearing in the matter for November 23.
The court’s intervention comes amid growing concerns over digital arrest fraud, in which criminals impersonate police officers, government officials or investigating agencies to intimidate victims and extract money.
In a related observation on October 29, the Supreme Court stressed that financial institutions must also be held accountable for cyber fraud. It said the RBI should frame regulatory provisions requiring banks and other financial entities to compensate victims when investigations establish that fraud occurred because of their failure to exercise due diligence.
The court indicated that compensation should not be lower than the amount lost by customers in such cases, placing greater responsibility on financial institutions to prevent and report suspicious transactions.
