Digital Arrest Video Call Scam through an app

How it looks through an app, the red flags and what to do.

A fake app can be installed from a link, from a file sent on chat or even from a lookalike listing. Once on your phone it can ask for powerful permissions. Digital Arrest Video Call Scam is one of the ways this shows up: Callers in uniform say you are under digital arrest on a video call and must send money to prove innocence. No agency does this. Here is how it works.

What digital arrest video call scam looks like through an app

• A "KYC", "challan" or "bank rewards" app from a link.
• An .apk file sent on WhatsApp or by SMS.
• An app outside the official store that asks for many permissions.

It usually begins with a recorded call or a message saying a parcel or SIM linked to your name was caught with something illegal. You are transferred to a second person who claims to be an officer. They move you to a video app and show a fake ID card and a backdrop that looks like a police station. They already know your name and sometimes your Aadhaar number, which makes it feel real.

Red flags to check on the app

• You are told you are under arrest on a video call.
• You are ordered not to tell family or disconnect.
• The caller wears a uniform in a home-like background.
• They ask you to move money to a safe or verification account.
• It asks you to turn off Play Protect.
• The app does not come from the official store listing of the company.

What to do

1. Hang up. You are free to end any call at any time.
2. Tell a family member or a friend straight away.
3. Do not move money, break deposits or take loans for the caller.
4. Open Settings and check Accessibility, Device admin apps and Install unknown apps for anything you do not recognise.
5. Change the passwords of your bank and email from a clean device if the app had access.
6. Run a phone scan (Safeavio Sentinel lists risky apps and settings).

Report the fake app to the store it came from and, if money moved, call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in.

If money or a code is already gone

1. Call 1930 immediately and give every account and amount.
2. Tell your bank through the number on your card so it can try to hold the money.
3. File a complaint on cybercrime.gov.in with screenshots and call times.
4. Keep all chat records and do not delete anything; stay away from further calls.

National Cyber Crime Helpline: 1930; report at cybercrime.gov.in.

Safeavio Sentinel's Money Shield checklist asks questions before you send money, such as who asked, why and whether you were told to keep it secret. It also lets a trusted family contact be added, and a family code word helps confirm that a real relative is calling. The scam check reads messages you paste and flags fake authority and urgency. It does not monitor calls or recover money.

Full guide: Digital Arrest Video Call Scam: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: phone call, WhatsApp.

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