HDFC Bank
HDFC Bank has been named in 6 documented digital harm incidents. The most common harm domain is Fraud & Financial.
Documented Incidents
6Middle-aged woman from Kursi Road loses ₹12.21 lakh to fake traffic challan APK file fraud
A woman from the Kursi Road area in Lucknow was scammed by online fraudsters who stole Rs 12.21 lakh from her credit card through a fake online traffic challan. The incident occurred on the morning of September 1 when she received an Android Application Package (APK) file disguised as a traffic violation ticket. Believing it to be legitimate, she downloaded the file, which led to her mobile phone being hacked. The hackers accessed her device and stole Rs 12.21 lakh, including two loans totaling Rs 11.60 lakh and Rs 61,768 withdrawn from her HDFC Bank credit card. The victim filed a complaint at the Cyber Crime Police Station on Friday. Authorities are working to trace and freeze the accounts to which the stolen funds were transferred.
Photographer in Shahdol loses ₹46 lakh to fraudsters posing as HDFC Bank employees
A photographer in Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh, discovered that over ₹46 lakh had been transacted from his bank account without his knowledge. The fraud came to light when he received notices from the Himachal Pradesh Cyber Crime Branch and Bengaluru North Division Crime Branch. The fraudsters had posed as HDFC Bank employees and convinced him to open a new account in Anuppur, keeping all related documents, including the ATM card and OTP, for fraudulent use. The accused, Deepak Sharma and Shashank Tiwari, were arrested after the victim filed a police complaint. Initial investigations suggest they may be part of an organized cybercrime network.
35-year-old private employee in Hyderabad loses ₹1,78,363 to RBL Bank impersonation scam via WhatsApp link
A 35-year-old private employee in Hyderabad lost Rs 1,78,363 to a caller posing as an RBL Bank agent. The caller asked for her KYC information and sent a WhatsApp link for updating her RBL Credit Card details. During the call, the victim entered her card details as instructed. Soon after, she received messages showing cash being debited from her HDFC bank account. The fraudster disconnected the call after being questioned, and the victim later received a debit message from Axis Bank. She immediately contacted HDFC Bank and ONE CARD (Federal Bank) to freeze her accounts.
37-year-old Ahmedabad lecturer loses ₹68.94 lakh to former student investment scam via UPI and loans
A 37-year-old lecturer at LD Engineering College in Ahmedabad was defrauded of over ₹68.94 lakh by his former student in an investment scam. The accused, Saurabh Pawan Kumar Trivedi, used false claims of being associated with Aditya Birla Capital and a startup called Honix Enterprises to lure the victim. Between November 2022 and November 2023, the victim transferred funds through UPI, took out multiple loans, and used credit cards to send money to Saurabh’s accounts and a firm linked to him. The victim also liquidated stock holdings worth ₹3.44 lakh, which were sent to an Axis Bank account in Saurabh’s name. Saurabh occasionally sent small amounts to cover EMIs but eventually went missing. The victim filed an FIR in January 2025 after failing to contact Saurabh, and police are investigating under charges of cheating and criminal misappropriation.
Bengaluru tech professional loses ₹2.8 crore after inserting SIM into maliciously configured MI 13 C smartphone
A Bengaluru-based tech professional lost ₹2.8 crore in a cyber fraud after inserting a SIM card into a maliciously configured smartphone. The scam began when the victim received a WhatsApp call from someone claiming to be a Citibank representative, who informed him that his credit card approval was pending and suggested obtaining a new SIM card. A few days later, a parcel labeled as coming from “City Union Bank” arrived, containing an MI 13 C smartphone. The victim inserted his SIM card into the device, not realizing it was pre-loaded with harmful apps that intercepted OTPs and allowed fraudsters to access his bank accounts. The unauthorized transactions were discovered on December 5, 2024, prompting the victim to file a complaint at the Whitefield Police Station. Authorities are investigating the case under relevant sections of the IT Act.
78-year-old retired IAF officer loses ₹42.5 lakh to digital arrest scam routed through HDFC Bank mule account
A 78-year-old retired IAF officer, Biren Yadav, was ensnared in a digital arrest scam on August 8, 2024, and forced to transfer Rs 42.5 lakh via RTGS to a bank account linked to the "Jeevika Foundation." On that day alone, the Jeevika account had 1,960 transactions, with Rs 3.72 crore credited and Rs 3.33 crore debited, despite an opening balance of just Rs 556. The account was opened at HDFC Bank’s Karol Bagh branch in Delhi in October 2023, and officials claimed they followed due process, including KYC norms, but could not explain how large sums moved without red flags. The Jeevika account is now central to at least six police investigations across multiple states, with victims reporting losses totaling over Rs 1.59 crore. In another related case, a top advertising executive in Gurugram was coerced into transferring Rs 5.85 crore in two days to an ICICI Bank account linked to an unemployed 26-year-old in Jhajjar, highlighting the use of multiple banks in the scam chain. Banks involved, including HDFC and ICICI, stated they had no alerts or mechanisms to flag the suspicious transactions at the time.