A Gurugram woman who lost Rs 5.85 crore in a "digital arrest" scam is now asking questions of her banks that cleared the transfers. Despite repeated awareness campaigns about cyber fraud, banks failed to safeguard her money when fraudsters coerced her into transferring it, she has alleged.

"Should the size of transfers that I made all in under three days not have been enough to raise suspicion and even prevent the crime?" she asked.

In September 2024, the woman victim got a call from a person claiming to be from a courier company. The person alleged that Mumbai customs had seized a drug parcel she was sending to Beijing, according to the BBC.

The fraudsters tricked the victim by pretending to be law enforcement officials. They got on a video call with her, wearing fake uniforms and showing false IDs to look convincing. During the call, they told her that she was involved in a crime and would be sent to jail for life if she didn't cooperate, and even threatened to harm her son if she disobeyed.

The fraudsters kept her under constant watch on Skype for five straight days. "After that, my brain stopped working. My mind just shut down," she recalled.