Topic: Solution for Bank Account frozen by Cyber Police due to P2P Trading (India) (Read 2131 times)

In my country Russia, cryptocurrency and P2P exchanges are not prohibited by law, but according to the agreement with the bank, I cannot use my personal bank account for cryptocurrency trading. In this case, there is a very high risk of having my bank card blocked.
The central bank of the country is against the introduction of cryptocurrencies, so banks in the country do not provide commercial solutions for cryptocurrency trading.
But if the user is deceived or involved in a fraudulent scheme, the police have already learned to deal with such situations, but no one will return the money.

Every country has its own complexities, so the most ideal option is to exchange for cash. The recipient of the transfer of money to the card is always at risk. The sender in 2-3 years (in my country this term is 3 years) can write a statement about an erroneous payment and through the court to return the sent money, and the recipient will not be able to prove that he sent cryptocurrency to the sender, because they do not have a contract.

This is only true when you are living in a country where the crypto is legal and if you are victim of any such scam, you can openly tell the authroities that you only did P2P trading and you are not linked with illegal activities.

I do not know exactly about India but here in Pakistan, Crypto is sort of ban and we cannnot openly buy or sell crypto. So if anyone get scams at P2P and the bank account get blocked, we cannot just go to the civil court and appeal for our rights. The reason is that if we tell the banks / authorities that the amount we recevie d in our account was due to P2P , they will put a case on us as we are dealing with things they are not allowed. In this case, the victim has very less chances of getting his account unfreeze or clear his situation,

Thank you for your swift response and valuable suggestions.

I have replied via DM.

Hi OP,

I signed up after reading your post. Thank you so much for the detailed information. Recently, My bank account was frozen I personally messaged you regarding that Issue. Since i am a new to this forum i am not sure whether you have received my message or not. Please check and reply.

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1991372

"Financial Intelligence Unit India (FIU IND) issues compliance Show Cause Notices to nine offshore Virtual Digital Assets Service Providers (VDA SPs)
FIU IND writes to Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block URLs of the nine entities operating illegally without complying with the provisions of PML Act in India
Posted On: 28 DEC 2023 8:56PM by PIB Delhi
Virtual Digital Assets Service Providers (VDA SPs) were brought into the ambit of Anti Money Laundering/Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML-CFT) framework under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PML) Act, 2002 in March 2023.

As part of compliance action against the offshore entities, Financial Intelligence Unit India (FIU IND) has issued compliance Show Cause Notices to following nine offshore Virtual Digital Assets Service Providers (VDA SPs) under Section 13 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA)."

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Websites of famous crypto exchanges will be blocked in India for violating laws, but VPN always works.

The bank is obligated to provide you with a copy as it's needed to prepare your defense. They cannot deny it on any ground. You have the right to defend yourself.

First, try to contact the Nodal Officer of the Bank via email and ask them to send you a copy of the notice.

You can get email details by executing a simple Google search. It's also available on the bank website. You can even ask the bank employees to hand you the Nodal Officer's email.

Once you contact the Nodal officer and get a reply, note down the reference number.

Wait for 30 days to get a resolution. If they don't comply with your request, lodge a complaint with RBI Ombudsman.

You can do it online here:
https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/Complaints.aspx

In case you don't get a response from RBI, then try lodging a complaint at the Public Grievance portal here:
https://pgportal.gov.in/

The notice copy is vital for your information, and you should do all you can to get it from the bank.

According to the law, money cannot be frozen forever, because each criminal case has its own time frame for investigation and transfer to court.
Don’t rush to hire a lawyer, try to find the authorities that control the bank’s activities and ask for a free consultation there.
Most likely, your account will be blocked until the case is closed, but you can influence this to speed up the closure of this case.

thank you so much for the detailed information. Recently, My bank account was frozen by the bank, and bank employees haven't given me the proper resolution. When I asked them for the acknowledgment letter, they started saying - they were not allowed to give that to me.

I called the cybercrime customer care number and they provided me with the investigation officer's number but the investigation officer never picked up my phone, no response to my messages. I don't have much information and I've never been into something like this. I mean I felt so helpless until I found this thread. Thank you so much again for the help.

I live in Ludhiana, Punjab and The victim is from Nagpur as far as I know from customer care support.  I don't know what needs to be done in that case. If you can help me with where to hire the lawyer, that would be really appreciated.

Thanks, I have read the article. Lawyers want to achieve a more complex procedure for blocking client funds at the bank, but this will also help fraudsters avoid blocking bank accounts.
I don’t know how this lawsuit will end, P2P exchanges also have tax risks, and it’s not clear how your tax authority will calculate the profit from the transaction. The tax authorities will have the right to request documents from you with the seal of the exchange for each P2P exchange. In such a business, problems cannot be avoided; it is easier to trade on decentralized exchanges.

You can read it here:
https://prnt.sc/TQF3FQonph3x

I could not read the entire article, because it is paid, but all banks work according to the same laws. If the police demand to block an account because a crime has occurred, then this is legal. Banks can block accounts even without statements from the police, but only because you have a lot of P2P transfers and your activity looks like a commercial one.

I am sure that in your agreement with the bank it is written that you cannot carry out business activities on the account of an individual. And in some European banks, before concluding an agreement, you sign a document that you will not carry out transactions with cryptocurrencies.

The only way to trade is to become a qualified investor, obtain the necessary permits and register as an entrepreneur with a bank.
An example with trading on a P2P site, and then paying income tax from an individual at the end of the year next year will not be legal and there will always be problems.

I am able to unfreeze 3 bank accounts usual way contact lawyer negotiate with police pay something

Police  also well aware we are not involved in any activity in fact few cases they are also part of the scam

Its a big business going on in India right now. Hope any one file some PIL some case filed in kerala High court and I am following it with lawyer

https://www.livelaw.in/high-court/all-high-courts/kerala-high-court-unilateral-freezing-bank-accounts-nccrp-portal-complaints-cyber-crime-226886

3 more cases pending 2 of them reached final stage of negotiation have to approach some top officer in ladder

believe its much bigger than we thought . They ae freezing 60-70 accounts in a single complaint and most of them are innocents

CRPC 102 given them power and they misuse . Any one ready to file PIL I am ready to be part of it

It is safe to trade on the exchange when you work in accordance with the laws of the country and pay taxes. Exchanges very often block traders' accounts and request a lot of documents on the origin of funds and tax returns. If you are not ready for such consequences, and do not know how to act, then this is also dangerous.

Only spot trading on Indian Exchanges is the safest legal way. They will deduct the necessary TDS on trades. Also, since funds come from their account, you don't need to worry. There is no safe way to deal with P2P. The biggest problem being you never know about the identity of the other person, and the second is the TDS deduction.

On a side note, P2P is the worst way trying to clear your debt, as you may end up losing even more money. Crypto is high-risk and must not be taken for granted.

If the police don't want to talk to you, that's fine. So the police have no questions for you. In the case of a criminal case, an explanation will be taken from you.You need to figure out how the account blocking procedure works and what needs to be done to unlock the account.
You need to find friends in the police and in the bank who will help you. Lawyers will cost more. You need a lawyer when there is a criminal case against you.

I would be more than happy to contact and cooperate but how when they themselves are uncooperative. The Banks don't give any info and just say to contact Cops and they provide reception contact details of cops. The cops don't cooperate as well. They just block the account and don't communicate. I still don't know who the IO for this complaint is. How do I contact them? Any suggestions?

I am doing nothing illegal and I intend to pay taxes. I only started last month but I will pay taxes after the financial year ends.

It is much more difficult to communicate with banks and it is necessary to assess the risks of blocking. It is easier to communicate with the police, but you must be registered as an entrepreneur and pay taxes. If you prove to the police that you are engaged in legal activities, then they will only be happy not to start a criminal case and recommend that all participants go to civil court
If you want to continue to engage in P2P exchanges, then you need to learn how to communicate with the police and banks.

Thanks for your instructions & responding. I was sick for few days and didn't check the forum. I have now sent an email to Nodal officers on Monday.

I contacted her only because I couldn't get any other contact info to reach out to. Banks aren't sharing any info except the complaint number. I have lodged a complaint with the nodal officers for my banks per your instruction but no response yet. Will wait & See.

Is there any way to avoid these scams and still make some profit on P2P Trades? Everything I earn goes into loans, mostly from relatives, that my father took and lost in business. With P2P I had some real hope of clearing that debt in a year and actually save something. But now all hope is gone.

Pls suggest any way to avoid such bank freezes? I am thinking getting a merchant account of Paytm or PhonePe. Because I have observed from the statement shared by girl who transferred me that they seem to ignore merchant payments. The girl who paid me got 5K on 16th May. From 16th May to 17th  May She made multiple transactions of 150 (grocery), 2500 (jewellery) & 25000 (other user). After that, she paid me 17K. Still, cops skipped all 3 accounts and blocked only mine. Maybe the cops will see that the payment happened to a merchant account, assume it's for some purchase and not freeze such accounts? Any help pls.

Who in India initiates a bank account freeze?
Does the victim of fraud have to file a complaint with the police, and then the police go to the bank to block the account, or does the victim go to the bank with a complaint?
The police should by law have a time limit for considering such applications. In order not to have bad statistics, criminal cases are not initiated if the amount of damage is small and the prosecutor sends a notification to everyone that the investigation is over and no criminal case has been initiated.Fraudsters take advantage of this and deceive for small amounts.