Victims of cyber fraud in financial limbo due to illogical official process
Hyderabad: Even as investigations against cyber fraudsters are gaining momentum, it is bringing along a tragic side: Many victims of cyber fraud, and some of those who are not, are finding their bank accounts frozen and the process of getting cleared is long and expensive.
Ashrita, a victim of bitcoin scam, is now imploring the police to let go of her bank account, which holds her savings. Tired of frequently visiting the cybercrime police station in Raidurg, she has decided to let the money go because of the costs involved.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, she said, “I pulled myself out of being scammed last year. Now suddenly my account has remained frozen for three months. One can only deposit but can’t make any withdrawals. On enquiry, I found out that someone in Mumbai got scammed by the same person. As part of the investigation, the Mumbai police have frozen my bank account.”
The local police were helpless and hen Ashrita reached out to the investigating officer in Mumbai. He asked her to come to Mumbai to get the account unfrozen after talking it out with the complainant himself.
Ashrita followed the officer’s lead and called the complainant. “He understood my problem and asked me to pay Rs 3,000. When I asked why, he said out that many people, whose accounts were frozen, had been contacting him. If each one pays Rs 3,000 to him, he would be able to cover his loss,” Ashrita said.
However, the travail did not end there. Ashrita had to meet the police after which a petition could be filed at a district court, which would direct the police to unfreeze the account.
Sri Vatsa, a freelancer from Kondapur, who is not a victim of cyber fraud, realised that his account was frozen for four months. As one who trains AI models, Vatsa gets his remuneration from a third-party app. One day when he did not receive his payment, he asked his hiring manager who informed that the money was transferred.
When Vatsa checked his account, it showed zero balance, when it should have been Rs 12,000. When he contacted the bank, he was told that his account had been frozen. The bank manager directed him to reach out to the police. On reaching the Gachibowli cybercrime police station, he was directed to dial 1930 for assistance.
“I had no clue about what to do until I called 1930. They told me that my bank account has been frozen by the Navi Mumbai police. On contacting them, they asked me to come to Mumbai to get the account unfrozen. Travelling to Mumbai would have been costlier than the Rs 12,000 that I could possibly recover. On asking why my account was frozen, they said that there was a link to a fraudster. The `12,000 is as good as lost,” he said.
The cybercrime police said that the only way out was for the victim to visit the police station, prove their identity and go through the tedious process.
A Cyberabad cybercrime wing official told Deccan Chronicle, “There is less awareness about this among higher officials. No one is bothered about the victims. Since much of the evidence is digital, it becomes a bit difficult for the police to claim in the court that the person is a victim and not a culprit. There needs to be a way to help such victims.”
