KOCHI: Police and cyber security wing have been on their toes lately due to the rising cyber fraud cases in the state. But the issue has now started affecting the traders in the state. Reports of frozen bank accounts of traders have been coming from various parts of the state for the past several days. It has been learned that the issue is a result of the stringent measures taken by the investigation agencies in cybercrime cases.
Noushad P K, a fruit vendor at Mupathadam near Aluva, has not been able to initiate any UPI transactions since March 20. When he enquired about it with the bank, he was told that his account was frozen as part of a probe being carried out by the Gujarat Police.
“The bank officials said my account was frozen following the direction of the Gujarat police claiming that I received money from another account which is being probed as part of a cyber fraud case. The said transaction was made by a person after buying watermelon from my shop. My wife’s account has also been frozen after I sent her some money from my account,” said Noushad.
Following this, Noushad contacted the Gujarat police and told them that he was not involved in any cyber fraud. However, the accounts remain frozen, he said.
According to Adv Jiyas Jamal, founder of Cyber Suraksha Foundation, the freezing process is not confined to UPI transactions alone. The accounts of several people who used other modes of bank transactions such as NEFT and RTGS were also frozen.
“When a case is reported at the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal or the cyber police station, the bank accounts to which the swindled money was diverted are frozen by the respective bank following the direction of the National Crime Records Bureau. To prevent any further diversion of the swindled money, all linked accounts to which the money arrived are also frozen. However, this method should be changed. The investigating agency must identify the particular accounts directly linked with the fraudsters instead of taking action against all,” Jiyas said.
According to Jiyas, restoring frozen accounts is a time-consuming process as it can be done only following the direction of the investigation agency. He alleged that there were instances of police officers in other states demanding bribe for the same. A senior banking official said one of the main reasons for the issue that the traders are facing now is the use of savings bank accounts for commercial transactions. “Savings accounts are not meant for commercial transactions. This should be done via current accounts,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ernakulam Rural cyber crime station house officer M B Latheef said that it is a complex issue. “The fraudsters divert the swindled money to hundreds of other bank accounts within minutes making it very hard to identify the accounts of innocent people. In one case, the fraudsters diverted the cheated money to more than 700 accounts,” he said. Latheef said that the police initiate steps to restore the frozen bank accounts if it is not linked to any cyber fraud soon after the probe.