Haryana is the first state to pilot a dual OTP Authentication system for senior citizens, and its outcomes are poised to influence national policy.

Written by: AJAY SINGHAL | THE NEWS DOSE.COM

Director General of Police, Haryana

Consider someone who spent decades working hard, serving family and nation, saving every rupee with care — only to have a lifetime of hard-earned savings wiped out by a single phone call. This is not a cautionary tale. It is the lived reality of thousands of senior citizens across India, systematically targeted by cyber criminals who have turned technology into an instrument of mass financial predation.

The gravity of the threat has compelled the highest institutions to act. The Supreme Court summoned the Reserve Bank of India and major banks, branding the crime “absolute robbery.” The Prime Minister raised the alarm during one episode of Mann Ki Baat. And the numbers explain why. Digital arrest fraud — in which scammers impersonate law enforcement on video calls to extort money — has spread with alarming speed. No law or recognised authority permits anyone to be “arrested” over a video call, yet 1.23 lakh such cases were officially reported in 2024 alone, resulting in losses of Rs 1,935 crore — nearly triple the figure from 2022. Across all forms of digital fraud, more than Rs 54,000 crore — approximately $8 billion — was lost between April 2021 and November 2025. The statistics are staggering; the human cost behind them, incalculable.

When I assumed charge as Director General of Police, Haryana, I made an unequivocal commitment: the strictest possible action would be taken against cyber criminals preying on senior citizens. After a careful review of the entire process with all key stakeholders, one conclusion stood out — halting the immediate, unchecked transfer of funds was essential to breaking the scam’s backbone.

These operations are anything but random. They are highly organised, coldly executed schemes led by international criminal networks. Victims receive calls from individuals impersonating officials from TRAI, CBI, ED, FedEx, Customs, or the Police. The caller alleges that the victim’s Aadhaar has been misused, that a suspicious parcel bears the victim’s name, or that a bank account linked to the victim has received illegal funds. An arrest warrant, they warn, has already been issued — but the matter can be quietly resolved if the victim cooperates and, crucially, maintains absolute secrecy.

That word — confidential — is weaponised with surgical precision. Isolating the victim from family is the very cornerstone of the scheme. A frightened older adult, alone and too ashamed to call their children, can be held captive before a screen for days. In one Gurugram case, a victim was kept on a video call for 10 consecutive days before Rs 79 lakh was transferred across 40 mule accounts — money that vanished within minutes through a sophisticated “dark room” system operated remotely from Taiwan.

Investigations have traced these networks to Cambodia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Vietnam, and China. Covert operations by Haryana Police’s cyber wing uncovered startling findings: last year alone, 4,500 people from Haryana travelled to Thailand under suspicious circumstances, with evidence pointing to forged passports, clandestine travel routes, and organised scam centres where young Indians are trafficked and coerced into cyber slavery.

Within the state, several districts have themselves become active nodes in this sprawling national network. Nuh, Bhiwani, Palwal, Hatangaon, Manota, and Hasanpur have emerged as significant cybercrime epicentres. At the same time, Gurugram — with its dense financial infrastructure — serves as both a prime target for high-value fraud and a base for organised criminal operations. In one telling case, a 24-year-old woman from Gujarat was apprehended at Delhi airport while operating out of Cambodia for a Chinese-run syndicate whose digital arrest racket maintained direct operational links through Gurugram.

Haryana Police has responded with force and resolve. Nine recruiters channelling Haryana youth into Southeast Asian cyber slavery networks were arrested, 35 FIRs were filed in deportation-linked cases, SIM cards were blocked, devices tracked, and mule accounts dismantled — severing the financial arteries that sustain these scams. Active operations against overseas networks continue.

Yet the scale of ongoing damage demands bolder, more structural solutions. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, digital arrest frauds in Haryana caused losses of Rs 10.78 crore — HDFC Bank customers losing Rs 3.63 crore, Bank of Baroda customers Rs 2.13 crore, and SBI customers Rs 1.71 crore. In most identified cases, the victims were senior citizens. They are not naïve — they are trusting. Having grown up respecting institutions and viewing uniforms as symbols of safety, they are primed to comply when authority speaks. Their accumulated savings and frequent isolation make them precisely the targets these criminals seek.

A thorough review of hundreds of cases revealed one consistent truth: these scams succeed because the victim is alone. When a trusted person intervenes, the scheme invariably collapses. Criminals depend entirely on secrecy and fear — and breaking either is sufficient to defeat them. This understanding gave rise to a landmark initiative: India’s first Dual OTP Authentication system for senior citizens, developed by Haryana Police in partnership with HDFC Bank, with more banks set to follow.

The solution is elegantly simple — no large transfer goes through without a second layer of consent. For any transaction of Rs 1 lakh or more initiated by a senior citizen, a second OTP is sent simultaneously to both the account holder and a designated trusted family member. Funds move only when both codes are entered. Even if a fraudster holds a victim hostage on a video call, he cannot reach the son or daughter in another city who receives the message: “Your mother is attempting to transfer Rs 3 lakh. Please confirm.” Currently voluntary for those aged 60 and above, the system is being considered mandatory for those aged 75 and above.

Haryana is the first state to pilot this model, and its outcomes are poised to influence national policy. Dual OTP is one strand of a broader, layered strategy. Each local police officer maintains a list of at least sixty senior citizens in their beat and proactively informs them about current scam techniques. Bank staff — frequently the last point of human contact before a fraud is consummated — are being trained to identify and report unusually large withdrawals by elderly customers.

The national cybercrime helpline, 1930, remains the primary channel for reporting incidents, and prompt action has already resulted in significant recoveries for victims. Looking ahead, AI-powered systems capable of flagging anomalous transactions before money moves must become the next frontier — but technology, however advanced, cannot replace human watchfulness.

To every family across India: do not limit your presence in your parents’ lives to festivals and birthdays. Stay connected. Know their bank. Safeguard their passwords. And impress upon them, firmly and repeatedly, the one truth that every criminal fears: no government agency will ever arrest anyone — or demand money — over a video call. To every police officer and banker: your alertness is not merely a professional duty — it is a shield between a trusting elder and irreversible loss.

The fraudsters who once operated in darkness, banking on silence and shame, will now find something they never anticipated — families and law enforcement standing together, unblinking and united. That is the wall they cannot break. And together, we will not let them through.