The 1930 call did its job if it reached the first account in time. When it did not, the money is usually split and pushed through several more accounts within hours, and what you are chasing from that point is a trace, a freeze further down the chain, and a court order. That is slower and less certain than a reversal, but it is not nothing. Here is what each part of the system now owes you.
What do the police have to do next?
Register the FIR and trace. Section 173(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 allows the information to be given at any police station and by electronic communication, and Section 78 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 puts the investigation in the hands of an officer not below the rank of Inspector. The investigating officer writes to each bank in the chain for the account opening documents, the KYC, the transaction trail and the IP and device details, and Section 106 BNSS lets a police officer seize property suspected to be the subject of an offence, which is how a bank account is frozen, with a report to the Magistrate.
The provision to ask about by name is Section 107 BNSS, which had no equivalent in the old Code. Where the officer has reason to believe that property is derived from criminal activity, he may, with the approval of the Superintendent or Commissioner of Police, apply to the court for its attachment. The court issues a show-cause notice returnable in fourteen days, may attach ex parte where notice would defeat the purpose, and under sub-section (6), if it finds the property to be proceeds of crime, directs the District Magistrate to distribute it rateably to the persons affected. Sub-section (7) gives the District Magistrate sixty days to do so. Ask for this in writing, because the section works only when the officer moves.
The Supreme Court's order of 4 August 2026 in the suo motu digital arrest matter adds pressure from above. As reported, it directs the Reserve Bank to circulate within four weeks a standard operating procedure for temporary debit holds on mule-linked accounts, the States to run money restoration modules, and the High Courts to see that recovered funds reach victims quickly. Quote it in your follow-up letter to the investigating officer.
How do I get frozen money released to me?
A hold is not a refund. Somebody has to ask a Magistrate, and that somebody is usually you.
Where is the frozen money in the process?
- Frozen by the police, not yet produced before any court: apply to the Magistrate having jurisdiction under Section 503 BNSS (old Section 457 CrPC) for delivery to the person entitled. This is the usual case in the first months.
- Produced before the court during investigation or trial: Section 497 BNSS (old Section 451) lets the court order proper custody pending the case, which in practice means release to you on a bond to restore it if the order is later set aside.
- Case concluded: Section 498 BNSS (old Section 452) governs final disposal, and sub-section (5) expressly reaches property into which the original money was converted.
The application is short. Annex the FIR, the portal acknowledgement, your bank statement showing the debit, the beneficiary bank's confirmation of the hold and the amount held, and an affidavit that the money is yours. Expect the police to be asked for a report and the account holder to be given notice. Indicatively, a straightforward release takes four to twelve weeks from filing, longer if the account holder contests or if several victims claim the same balance, in which case the court distributes pro rata.
What if my own bank delayed the freeze request?
Your bank has duties of its own under the Reserve Bank's circular of 6 July 2017 on limiting customer liability in unauthorised electronic banking transactions. Paragraph 5 requires round-the-clock reporting channels, an immediate acknowledgement carrying a complaint number, and immediate steps to prevent further unauthorised transactions on receipt of your report. Paragraph 12 puts the burden of proving your liability on the bank. If your report went in at 9 am and the hold request left the bank at 4 pm, the delay is a deficiency in service, and the question of who bears the loss for that window is a live one.
Escalate in writing, then to the bank's nodal officer, and after thirty days without a reply, or sooner if the reply is unsatisfactory, to the RBI Ombudsman under the Reserve Bank Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2026, which came into force on 1 July 2026 and replaced the 2021 scheme. It is free, filed online at cms.rbi.org.in, and must be filed within ninety days of the bank's reply or of the thirty-day period expiring. The Ombudsman can award compensation up to Rs 30 lakh for consequential loss and up to Rs 3 lakh for time, expense and harassment, and a pending police investigation is expressly not treated as the same grievance, so the FIR does not block the complaint. One restriction: an advocate cannot file it for you unless the advocate is the victim. Our answer on a bank refusing to refund a fraudulent transaction covers the liability bands.
Can I sue the person whose account received the money?
Yes. A person to whom money has been paid by mistake or under coercion must repay it under Section 72 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, and a suit for recovery of the amount lies in the civil court where the defendant resides or where the cause of action arose. Limitation is three years, and Section 17 of the Limitation Act, 1963 provides that where the suit is based on the defendant's fraud, time does not begin to run until you discovered the fraud or could have with reasonable diligence. The same account holder faces Section 317(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 for dishonestly receiving or retaining property obtained by cheating, which Section 317(1) designates as stolen property, and Section 317(5) for helping to dispose of it. The sibling answer on mule accounts goes into that side.
| Track | Forum | What it can give you | Indicative time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Police trace and freeze down the chain | Investigating officer, Section 106 BNSS | A hold on whatever balance remains in later accounts | Days to weeks |
| Release of frozen funds | Jurisdictional Magistrate, Sections 503 or 497 BNSS | The held amount, pro rata if several victims | Four to twelve weeks |
| Attachment of proceeds of crime | Court on the officer's application, Section 107 BNSS | Rateable distribution through the District Magistrate within sixty days of the order | Months |
| Bank's own delay | Bank, then RBI Ombudsman, then consumer commission | Compensation for the loss attributable to the delay | Three to nine months |
What I tell clients at this stage
Keep writing. An investigation into a layered fraud stalls the moment the complainant goes quiet, because the officer has forty other files and the banks answer the ones that are chased. A dated letter every three weeks asking what was frozen, where, and whether a Section 107 application has been moved is the cheapest thing you will do in this case and the one most likely to matter. If the file simply stops, the answer on police not investigating a complaint sets out the escalation. And do not pay anyone who calls offering to recover the money for a fee. That is the second fraud on the same victim, and the portal and the Ombudsman cost nothing.