When Anjali* picked up a call last September, she had no idea it would cost her nearly 58.5 million rupees ($663,390) and plunge her into a year-long battle with India’s banking system.
The caller claimed to be from a courier company, warning her that Mumbai customs had intercepted a drug parcel she had allegedly sent to Beijing. Within hours, the 40-year-old Gurugram resident was ensnared in what authorities describe as a “digital arrest” scam—a growing form of cybercrime in which fraudsters pose as law enforcement officers, hold victims under constant video surveillance, and threaten them with jail or harm to loved ones unless they comply with demands.
For five days, Anjali was kept on Skype around the clock, terrorized into liquidating her savings and transferring the funds. “After that, my brain stopped working. My mind shut down,” she recalled.
Her ordeal is part of a wider surge. Government figures show reported cases of “digital arrests” have almost tripled to 123,000 between 2022 and 2024, with Indians losing millions of dollars. The escalation has prompted nationwide awareness campaigns, including prime ministerial warnings, and the blocking of thousands of Skype and WhatsApp accounts linked to the fraud.
But for victims like Anjali, the financial system itself remains a source of anger. She alleges her bank, HDFC—India’s largest private lender—failed to flag transfers worth 58 million rupees in just three days, even though they were hundreds of times larger than her normal transactions. “If a credit card spend of 50,000 rupees prompts a call, why not withdrawals in crores?” she asked. HDFC dismissed her complaint, saying the transactions were authorized under her instructions.
The money trail revealed further gaps. Funds were routed through an ICICI Bank account with almost no balance days earlier, before being dispersed to 11 accounts at a Hyderabad-based cooperative bank. Police later found that many of these accounts were fictitious or opened using mule identities. The cooperative bank’s former director has since been arrested for allegedly enabling fraudulent accounts.
Despite police efforts, Anjali has recovered only about 10 million rupees. Her complaints against both HDFC and ICICI were dismissed by the banking ombudsman, which cited rules that hold customers liable when fraud occurs due to their own actions.
The case has now reached India’s top consumer court, which admitted her plea earlier this year. A hearing is scheduled in November.
Experts argue that banks cannot escape responsibility. “If a bank observes any activity in an account inconsistent with its pattern, it must intervene,” said Mahendra Limaye, a lawyer representing several victims.
For Anjali, the nightmare continues. Beyond the unrecovered money, she says she is now being taxed on investments she was coerced into redeeming—adding insult to injury. “There is no recognition of such crimes by the Income Tax department,” she said. “This compounds the victims’ misery.”
