An Indian woman from Gurugram, identified as Anjali (name changed), has come forward after losing ₹58.5 million (USD 663,000) in a sophisticated “digital arrest” scam, highlighting growing concerns over banking safeguards and regulatory failures in India.
The fraud began with a call last September from individuals posing as law enforcement officials, who accused Anjali of sending a drug parcel abroad. Over the course of five days, the scammers kept her under constant surveillance through Skype, threatened her with imprisonment and harm to her son, and coerced her into transferring her life savings.
Despite multiple red flags — including transactions 200 times larger than her usual withdrawals — her bank, HDFC, processed the transfers without intervention. The money quickly moved through ICICI Bank into multiple accounts at Sree Padmavathi Cooperative Bank in Hyderabad, many of which were later found to be mule accounts with fictitious or vulnerable holders.
Anjali has since recovered only a fraction of her funds and has filed complaints against the banks, accusing them of failing in their duty of care. Both HDFC and ICICI have denied wrongdoing, while the ombudsman has cited existing rules that place liability on customers if fraud is deemed to be their mistake.
Police investigations have revealed systemic lapses, including weak transaction monitoring and misuse of cooperative bank accounts. One former bank director has been arrested for allegedly enabling mule accounts, while many of the funds remain untraceable.
Legal experts argue that banks indirectly abet such crimes by failing to act on suspicious patterns, and campaigners are now urging regulators to follow the U.K.’s model, which makes banks liable for reimbursing victims of certain frauds.
For Anjali, the ordeal has been devastating — she has lost her savings, is battling taxation on the stolen funds, and continues to seek justice through consumer courts. “Shouldn’t banks have stopped me when I was transferring my entire fortune under duress?” she asks, as her fight underscores the urgent need for stronger cybercrime protections and financial accountability.