India reports over 21,900 digital arrest fraud complaints worth ₹647 crore in first eight months of 2026
More than 21,900 digital-arrest fraud complaints involving over ₹647 crore were recorded from Jan 1 to Aug 31, 2026, according to a status report filed by I4C and the MHA with the Supreme Court.
A status report submitted by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre and the Ministry of Home Affairs before the Supreme Court recorded more than 21,900 digital-arrest fraud complaints totaling over ₹647 crore between Jan 1 and Aug 31, 2026. The Court had taken suo motu cognizance of the problem in October 2025 after a senior-citizen couple reported a loss of over ₹1 crore. The report highlights that the Grievance Redressal Portal, fully operational nationwide since April 2026, now covers 109 banks and 1.28 lakh branches, handling 93,041 cyber-crime grievances, of which 60,638 have been acted upon.
The Money Restoration Portal has processed more than six lakh refund requests, restoring ₹332.7 crore, including ₹112.96 crore directly from banks. The Reserve Bank of India is preparing new SOPs on money-mule detection, slated for integration with the portals by December 2026. All states except Jharkhand have established State Cybercrime Coordination Centres, and an online zero-FIR mechanism is being rolled out, increasing its complaint share from 2 % to 8 % across states and UTs.
Why it matters
The rise in digital-arrest scams endangers consumers and triggers coordinated government and banking actions to safeguard funds.
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