The CBI has launched an AI chatbot to help people verify the agency's notices to protect them from digital arrest scams.

A digital arrest scam is where criminals use forged documents to extort money by posing as agency officials.

ABHAY, the probe agency said, is a first-of-its-kind real-time notice verification system developed in-house by it.

The chatbot will give real-time information about the authenticity of the notice, declaring it either as genuine or potentially fraudulent, officials said.

"The person receiving a notice in the name of CBI must visit CBI's official website. Then, click on the ABHAY logo on the main webpage. The user must do an OTP verification process using his/her mobile number and then upload a scanned copy of the notice received," a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.

People can access ABHAY through CBI's official website www.cbi.gov.in, she said.

"The rapid advancement of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and deep fakes have made it increasingly difficult for ordinary citizens to distinguish between what is real and what is fabricated," the spokesperson said.

She termed 'digital arrest' an insidious form of cyber fraud that creates intense fear in the mind of the victim.

"The modus operandi begins with a fraudulent notice that appears to be issued by a legitimate law enforcement agency. The notice falsely accuses the victim of involvement in criminal activity," the spokesperson said.

Once the victim is deceived into compliance, fraudsters initiate a sham legal process, keeping the victim under surveillance for days under the guise of a 'digital arrest' - a concept that has no legal existence in Indian law, she added.

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