"Your son has been arrested" call
A caller showing a police photo on WhatsApp says your child is in custody and can be released for a payment.
Community reports: 0
How it works
- A caller, often on WhatsApp with a police officer's photo as the display picture, says your son or daughter has been caught in a serious case.
- You may hear a crying voice saying "Papa, please save me", and the "officer" says it can be settled quietly if you pay now and tell no one.
- In panic you send money by UPI, and only later find that your child was safe all along.
What it looks like
Example messages. Numbers and links are masked.
I am Inspector Yadav speaking from the police station. Your son has been caught with his friends in a serious case. To avoid an FIR, transfer Rs 50,000 now. Do not call anyone.
Papa, please help me, they will put me in jail... (a crying voice, then the phone is handed to the "officer")
Red flags
- Police photo as WhatsApp display picture
- Pay now and tell no one
- A crying voice you cannot clearly recognise
- Money by UPI to "avoid an FIR"
- Call from an unknown or foreign number
The one question to ask
Have you hung up and called your child, or their college or friends, on the number you already have?
Already paid or shared details?
Call your child directly first. If money has gone, call 1930 at once and file a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in with the caller's number and payment details, and report the number on sancharsaathi.gov.in (Chakshu).
1930 · cybercrime.gov.in
Also seen as
- Child "in an accident" and needing money for hospital
- Relative abroad "arrested" and needing bail money
- AI-copied voice of a family member asking for urgent money