UPI Scam Money Blocked in Bank Account: What to Do When a Fraudster Gets Your Funds Frozen

Vikram Nair, a retired government employee residing in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow, received a phone call on 18 March 2025. The caller impersonated his senior officer, explaining that his official number was being changed and requesting that Vikram transfer some money to a new UPI ID for an urgent departmental purpose. Trusting the familiar manner of the caller, Vikram transferred approximately Rs. 50,000 in four separate UPI transactions through his Canara Bank account.

Shortly after, the caller asked Vikram to send the money to a different account number. That request made Vikram pause. He noticed the recipient's UPI ID looked suspicious, called the number back, and then reached his actual officer through WhatsApp. The scam became immediately clear. Vikram refused to transfer any further amount and asked the fraudster to arrange a direct reversal through the bank. But within hours of that call, Rs. 40,000 was blocked in his account. By afternoon the same day, a total of Rs. 90,000 had been frozen — because the fraudster had filed a complaint claiming he himself had sent Rs. 50,000 to Vikram's Canara Bank account and another Rs. 40,000 to a separate Punjab National Bank account, and demanded the entire Rs. 90,000 back.

Vikram had initially approached a local general practitioner advocate, whose letters to the bank produced no meaningful response. He then approached Advocate Sudhir Rao, who recognised this as a layered cyber fraud pattern — where scammers use the victim's own bank complaint mechanism against them. A precise complaint was filed with the Cyber Crime Cell, supported by detailed transaction records, call logs, and a written explanation of the modus operandi. The specialised procedural handling led to Vikram's account being unfrozen within a structured timeline, and an FIR was registered against the fraudster.

You can read about this case in detail at https://sudhirrao.com/upi-scam-money-blocked-bank-account-legal-remedies-india/