81-year-old man loses Rs 9 crore to scam, runs pillar to post for refund

Hyderabad: Nearly five months after losing 9.07 crore in a digital arrest fraud, an 81-year-old retd govt employee is still running from pillar to post to recover his money.
While Nateri Ramanujacharyulu, a resident of Gachibowli, reported the crime on the national cybercrime reporting portal (NCRP) soon after the fraud in Dec 2024, he was told that he could recover only 5.89 lakh — frozen by authorities in the fraudsters' account. The stolen funds were transferred to 16 accounts in different banks.
However, the complainant is yet to receive the full amount even from this partial amount which was frozen. While 1.83 lakh was credited back to him, 4.06 lakh remains stuck in various banks, despite court orders instructing banks to release the funds.
The victim fell prey to cybercriminals posing as CBI officials, who held him under digital arrest for 21 days between Nov 22 and Dec 12. The fraudsters claimed to return his money within 48 hours after verification. However, when that didn't happen, Ramanujacharyulu reported the incident to the authorities.
After hiring a private advocate, Ramanujacharyulu obtained court orders for the release of frozen funds. However, banks processed refunds from only eight of those accounts, while they remained unresponsive for processing funds from other accounts.
"Banks are not respecting even court orders. They keep saying the matter is with their legal team," said a distressed Ramanujacharyulu. In one instance, only 199 was released from a frozen amount of 26,132, with no explanation for the discrepancy.
"First, cybercriminals looted my life's savings, and now banks are troubling me with delays. This is not justice delayed, but justice denied," the elderly man lamented. He also lodged a complaint with the Reserve Bank of India.
A senior police official said that they continue to follow up with banks in such cases to ensure frozen funds are returned to victim as per court directives.