India saw a sharp rise in cybercrime last year, with over 1.23 lakh cases involving a total of Rs 1,935 crore in losses. One such case, reported from Gurugram, showed how fraudsters are using fake video call interrogations to scare people into giving up their bank details—then draining their accounts within minutes.
The Indian Express investigated a case involving a 44-year-old advertising executive who became the target of this growing crime trend. The scam began in a luxury apartment in the NCR, moved through a small house in a Haryana village, then to a rented room in Hyderabad’s outskirts, and eventually spread across 15 other states. The stolen money, which was nearly Rs 6 crore, was quickly routed through 28 bank accounts, followed by 141 more, before disappearing.
The investigation revealed how scammers use low-income individuals as “money mules” to move huge sums—sometimes up to Rs 81 lakh in just seconds. Many of these people had no idea their accounts were being misused. Meanwhile, those responsible for tracking suspicious transactions either ignored the signs or were directly involved. Banks, caught in the middle, have been blaming each other instead of taking action. This case is just one example of a much larger and growing threat.
Out of all the digital arrest scam victims tracked by The Indian Express, only one person has managed to get back more than 75% of their stolen money. Most others have lost large amounts of their savings, with very slim chances of recovering even 10%.
The investigation shows that a mix of delays and clever tricks by scammers makes it very difficult to trace and recover the stolen money.
The underlying problem
Digital arrest scams often play out over one or two days. In a case from Gurugram, for example, the scam lasted nearly two days before the victim even realised something was wrong. By the time victims report the fraud—usually a day later—scammers have already moved the money through many mule accounts spread across different states.
In many cases, the money is quickly withdrawn in cash from these accounts before the scam is even noticed. Most of the mule accounts have fake addresses, which makes it nearly impossible for police to trace where the money went.
Investigators say the speed at which these scammers operate makes it harder to catch them. In one case, nearly Rs 3 crore was withdrawn from a mule account in just 29 minutes at an ICICI Bank branch in Jhajjar. However, one high-profile case shows that fast action and a bit of luck can sometimes help recover the money before it vanishes completely.
Quick action helps 82-year-old businessman recover Rs 5.27 crore
In November 2024, 82-year-old industrialist S P Oswal, chairman of the Vardhman Group, fell victim to a digital arrest scam. He ended up transferring a total of Rs 7 crore from his ICICI and HDFC bank accounts in Ludhiana before realising it was a fraud and informing the police, reported IE.
Thanks to fast action by the authorities, Oswal has so far managed to recover Rs 5.27 crore. The recovered money came from two State Bank of India (SBI) accounts – Rs 1.53 crore from Malda, West Bengal, and Rs 3.74 crore from Guwahati, Assam.
According to the investigating officer, Jatinder Singh of Punjab Police, the quick recovery was possible because of support from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), under the Union Home Ministry. I4C’s network of cybercrime officers in major banks helped freeze the suspect accounts quickly.
Another key reason for the success was that the mule accounts used in the first stage of the scam had real, traceable addresses. Oswal said he spoke to his finance officer after two days of being monitored by the scammers on video calls. Once they realised it was a scam, they went straight to the police.
The suspect accounts were frozen within five hours of the complaint, and two people have been arrested. Investigators found that Rs 9.5 crore had passed through the SBI Guwahati branch in just 10 days—including Rs 4 crore of Oswal’s money.