Major Crackdown! Thousands of WhatsApp Accounts Banned in India; Linked to Cambodia

A major crackdown has been launched against thousands of WhatsApp accounts. Meta has banned thousands of these accounts, which were being used to target Indian users.

A significant enforcement action has been taken against thousands of WhatsApp accounts in India. Meta’s instant messaging platform has blocked over 9,400 WhatsApp accounts within the first 12 weeks of this year. The majority of these accounts have a connection to Cambodia. Attorney General R. Venkataramani disclosed this information regarding the banning of WhatsApp accounts during a Supreme Court hearing concerning a case related to the “Digital Arrest” scam.

Operated from Cambodia

Meta’s instant messaging platform discovered during its investigation that most of the accounts targeting Indian users were being operated from scam centers located in Southeast Asia—specifically, Cambodia. In other words, the web of “Digital Arrest” scams that had been cast across India was being orchestrated through accounts based in Cambodia.

Most of the hackers perpetrating these “digital arrests” would intimidate and threaten individuals—often posing as officials from the Delhi Police, Mumbai Police, CBI, or ATS departments—in order to defraud them. The WhatsApp team identified these accounts and subsequently took this major enforcement action against them. The hackers utilized the names of government departments to ensure that their targets would not become suspicious of their activities.

Major Action Taken with Assistance from Government Departments

WhatsApp stated that new enforcement tools were deployed to protect users from these hackers. In this effort, the company took action based on information received from the Ministry of Home Affairs’ cybersecurity wing—the I4C (Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre)—as well as the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The Department of Telecommunications’ ‘Sanchar Saathi’ portal also played a pivotal role in this operation, as numerous users had reported these suspicious accounts through the platform. These WhatsApp accounts were ultimately banned based on the various complaints received.

Preparations for SIM Binding

To curb digital arrests and online fraud in India, the government is making preparations to implement SIM binding for social media applications. WhatsApp has expressed its consent regarding this initiative. Once SIM binding is implemented, WhatsApp and other social media apps will be usable only on those specific phones that house the corresponding registered SIM card—much like the current mechanism for UPI applications.