Bank Account Frozen Due to a Cyber Crime Complaint? How to Unfreeze

How you ended up in the money trail

When a victim files a complaint on cybercrime.gov.in or calls the 24x7 helpline 1930, the money is traced through the accounts it passed into, and banks are asked to hold funds along that trail. Accounts are described by their distance from the original fraud:

• Layer 1: received the fraud proceeds directly
• Layer 2: received them from a Layer 1 account, and so on
• Layers 3, 4, 5 and beyond: progressively more remote. People routinely report being restricted at Layer 5, 6 or 7, several transactions removed from anything to do with the fraud
• The more remote your layer, the stronger the argument that a hold on the whole balance is disproportionate, so it is worth asking the bank to tell you which layer you are recorded at

Step 1: Get the case credentials from the bank

Ask in writing for the NCRP acknowledgement number, the FIR or complaint number and police station, the disputed amount as recorded, the layer, and, importantly, which state's cyber cell issued the instruction. The case is usually registered where the complainant lives, which is very often not your state.

Also ask which provision was invoked. If the bank says the communication was under Section 94 BNSS or Section 91 CrPC, note that those are document-production provisions; see the guide on police freezes for what that means and the cases on it.

Step 2: Put your explanation on record with the investigating officer

Write to the investigating officer and the cyber cell with a short factual account of the transaction, your bank statement for the period, identity and PAN, and proof of how your account is normally funded: salary slips, invoices, an employment letter. Ask expressly for a No Objection Certificate to the bank, or for the NCRP grievance to be marked resolved.

Keep it factual and cooperative. You are not obliged to characterise the underlying activity, and if the source of the money is something you are unsure about legally, take an advocate's view before describing it in a signed letter to the police. Do not misstate anything: if you are asked a direct question, answer it truthfully.

Step 3: Get the bank to raise the grievance (the step that matters)

Under the 2026 SOP, the bank carries out CDD and EDD on your explanation and, if satisfied about the bona fides of the transaction, submits the grievance to the Grievance Redressal Module (GRM) of NCRP-CFCFRMS, which produces a Grievance ID. Only the bank can do this: you cannot file it yourself, which is precisely why branches that say “go talk to the police” have to be pushed in writing.

If the branch will not, escalate by email to the bank's Principal Nodal Officer, copied to the Managing Director and CEO, and say plainly that the branch was asked on a given date and did not act.

What the SOP's 90-day provision actually says

This is widely misdescribed online, so it is worth being precise. Under Clause 10 of the 2026 SOP, where no lawful direction on continuing or discontinuing the hold is received within 90 calendar days of the grievance being submitted by the bank, and the hold has been contested through the grievance mechanism, the bank is to intimate the agency in the 15 days before that period expires. If the amount is not required in any other case, no court petition has been filed for its release, and the agency has not asked for an extension, the bank is then to remove the hold after Enhanced Due Diligence, on your request and as per the agency's instructions.

• The 90 days run from the date the bank raised the grievance, not from the date your account was frozen
• It only starts if a grievance was actually raised and the hold contested through the mechanism
• The investigating officer can ask to continue the hold for up to 90 additional calendar days
• There is no ₹50,000 threshold in this provision. The ₹50,000 figure in the SOP is about interim custody of money handed back to the victim under Section 106(3) BNSS: a different mechanism that has nothing to do with releasing an account holder's account
• So it is a route to ask the bank to review the hold. It is not an automatic expiry, and the restriction does not lapse by itself

If the investigating officer is in another state

This is extremely common: a Rajasthan account holder dealing with a Kerala cyber cell, and the officer not answering the phone. Travelling 1,000 kilometres should not be your first move.

• Start remotely: send the representation and documents by email and by speed post, and keep the delivery receipts. You want a record that you tried to cooperate
• Say expressly in the letter where you live, that you are enclosing everything available to you, and ask that it be examined before any personal appearance is required
• Ask whether anything further is needed, and whether a statement can be recorded locally or remotely
• If nothing moves, use the SOP grievance ladder (District Grievance Officer, then State Grievance Officer) and CPGRAMS at pgportal.gov.in
• If you receive a formal notice or summons, do not ignore it, and do not simply email back and hope. Understand what the notice is and take advice from an advocate in that jurisdiction before responding

Should you return or settle the disputed amount?

People are often told, or assume, that paying back the disputed sum will make the complaint go away. Treat payment and release as two separate things, because they are.

Returning money does not by itself close an NCRP complaint or an FIR, does not oblige the investigating officer to issue an NOC, does not automatically remove the bank's restriction, and does nothing about any other complaint attached to your account.

• If you accept the money was not yours to keep, you may still want to resolve it, but get written confirmation of what the payment is meant to settle and what the recipient or authority will do afterwards
• If you dispute that you owe anything, be careful that a payment is not treated as an admission. Take advice before paying to settle an allegation you contest
• If someone contacts you privately claiming to be the complainant or an intermediary and offers to get the freeze lifted for a payment, treat that as a fraud risk. Do not send money on that basis
• If a police officer asks for a payment, that warrants particular caution: document everything and get legal advice rather than making an informal transfer

When this is no longer a do-it-yourself problem

Writing letters is the right approach when you are trying to find out what happened, get the reference numbers, ask for a proportionate lien, and request a No Objection Certificate. Draw a line, though, when the matter stops being administrative.

• Reasonable to handle yourself: asking the bank who froze the account and under what authority, explaining a transaction, submitting income and identity proof, requesting an NOC, and escalating a grievance
• Get an advocate: you have been summoned as a suspect or accused, there is a threat of arrest, the police want a detailed signed statement about conduct that may itself be unlawful, there are multiple FIRs, the amounts are large, or the Enforcement Directorate / PMLA is involved
• Also get an advocate before any court step: a writ petition or an application to vary or recall a freeze order is not a self-help exercise

Frequently asked questions