Frank McKenna recently joined the Stolen podcastand talked about digital arrest as the next wave of police and government impersonation scams. The most dominant scam in India today, it’s also becoming common in Japan. And it’s rapidly growing in the United States.

Bloomberg Businessweek: The digital revolution provides myriad benefits and conveniences. Criminals also benefit from technology advances and the billions of people who take advantage of them.

One of those crimes is known as “digital arrest,” fear-based extortion in which scammers impersonate law enforcement or government officials. They accuse the target of a serious crime and place them under house arrest via a video call, tell them they’re under constant surveillance, and threaten immediate physical arrest if they don’t comply.

Bloomberg’s article tells the story of Ruchika, a neurologist who was targeted in such a scam. It all started with a call informing her that criminal complaints had been filed against her phone number. That call led to a Central Bureau of Investigation officer telling her they had evidence of money laundering through her accounts. And now, officers are on their way to her house with an arrest warrant to take her into custody.

The callers had her Aadhaar government ID number, which increased the credibility, although they’d likely purchased it for a few dollars on the dark web with thousands of others.

But they gave her an alternative. She could agree to “digital custody” and interrogation over video. It’s a secret program, so she can’t tell anyone. The fear of arrest — and the stigma of it — are enough to get her to comply. They tell her to buy a new phone and install specific software.

The scammers send a list of 70 rules she must follow. No visitors. Regular check-in calls with uniformed officers. She is subject to constant surveillance and direction through her phone. Turn off the camera? Arrest. Social media? Arrest. Texts or calls? Arrest. Attempt escape? Arrest.

The hours-long interrogation includes 500 questions, not about the crime, but psychological topics, such as her biggest fears and accomplishments. They tell her they need to review her assets to look for links to criminal activities. She’ll need to transfer all her assets to a government account. If she doesn’t comply? Arrest. Her “handlers” coach her through the process using WhatsApp and require updates every few minutes as she goes to the bank. They’ve told her that the real criminal may work for the bank.

But the bank branch manager knows her and asks questions. The handlers have coached her with responses. He’s uncomfortable with the transaction but completes it because cultural norms make it inappropriate for him to be more aggressive in his questioning.

By the end of the day, she has deposited her family’s nest egg in multiple bank branches. And after that, the criminals quickly move the money to an account registered to a transportation company. From there, it’s distributed into dozens of other accounts, making it nearly impossible to recover. The criminals can withdraw the funds through ATMs or write checks to themselves.

Eight days after the first call, they release Ruchika from custody, promising that the investigators will return the funds if they’re determined to be “clean.” Free from surveillance, she decides to use search to get more information about what she has just experienced. She realizes she’s been scammed.

A few weeks later, another target received the same documents from the same people. He sent them $840,000. The document templates and government ID numbers are available for sale online for about $10.

Read the full article to learn more about Ruchika’s case, how scammers get information about their targets, and other elements of the scam industry in India: India’s Digital Dream, Hacked.

Or access the graphic novel version of her story.

Learn more about the psychology of digital arrest and extortion scams in the research paper, “Digital arrest in the cyber age: a psychological perspective on fear, authority, and consciousness.”