Guide
Phone scams and your parents: what to tell them, in their language
Almost every phone scam aimed at an elderly person rests on one of three stories — the bank, the police, or a relative in trouble — and all three are defeated by one sentence: nobody genuine will ever ask for a code or money over the phone; put the phone down and ring your family. That sentence is below in eleven languages. If money has already gone, ring 1930 at once.
The size of it
Between January and April 2024 alone, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre recorded losses of ₹120 crore to "digital arrest" scams, and victims are disproportionately older people. By the end of 2025 the government's fraud-reporting system had frozen or recovered more than ₹8,189 crore across 23.6 lakh complaints — a measure of how much is being taken, not how much is being saved. Your parents are rung by these people. The only question is what they will say.
The three stories
Every variation your parents will hear is one of these three.
1. "This is the bank." Their card is blocked, their KYC has expired, a payment has failed. To fix it they must read out the code that has just arrived by SMS. That code is the one-time password that lets the caller empty the account. Banks never ask for it; the message that carries it says so.
2. "This is the police / customs / the court." A parcel in their name contains drugs; a case has been filed; they are under "digital arrest" and must stay on the video call and transfer their savings to a "safe account" for verification. There is no such thing as a digital arrest. No police force in India arrests anyone over a phone call, and no court asks for money on one.
3. "It's me, I'm in trouble." A grandson has had an accident, a nephew is held at the airport, a voice that sounds almost right needs money sent now and quietly. The "quietly" is the tell. A real relative in trouble wants the family told, not kept in the dark.
The one line that defeats all three
Nobody genuine — not the bank, not the police, not the phone company — will ever ask you for a code or for money over the phone. If anyone does, put the phone down and ring your family.
Say it once, plainly, on your next call. Then put it on a card by the telephone, in the language your parents read. Here it is in each of the eleven:
| Hindi | बैंक, पुलिस या कोई भी असली कंपनी कभी फोन पर आपसे पैसे या कोड नहीं मांगेगी। अगर कोई ऐसा करे, तो तुरंत फोन काटकर हमें कॉल कीजिए। |
| Bengali | ব্যাঙ্ক, পুলিশ বা কোনও আসল কোম্পানি কখনও ফোনে আপনার কাছে টাকা বা কোড চাইবে না। কেউ চাইলে সঙ্গে সঙ্গে ফোন কেটে আমাদের ফোন করুন। |
| Marathi | बँक, पोलीस किंवा कोणतीही खरी कंपनी फोनवर कधीही तुमच्याकडे पैसे किंवा कोड मागणार नाही. असं कोणी मागितल्यास, लगेच फोन ठेवा आणि आम्हाला फोन करा. |
| Telugu | బ్యాంకు, పోలీసులు లేదా ఏ నిజమైన కంపెనీ అయినా ఫోన్లో మీ డబ్బు కానీ, కోడ్ కానీ అడగరు. ఎవరైనా అలా అడిగితే, వెంటనే ఫోన్ పెట్టేసి మాకు కాల్ చేయండి. |
| Tamil | வங்கி, போலீஸ் அல்லது எந்தவொரு உண்மையான நிறுவனமும் போனில் உங்களிடம் பணமோ அல்லது கோடோ கேட்கவே மாட்டார்கள். யாராவது அப்படி கேட்டால், உடனே போனை வைத்துவிட்டு நமக்கு போன் செய்யுங்கள். |
| Gujarati | બેંક, પોલીસ કે કોઈ સાચી કંપની ક્યારેય ફોન પર તમારી પાસે પૈસા કે કોડ નહીં માંગે. જો કોઈ આવું કરે, તો તરત જ ફોન મૂકીને અમને ફોન કરજો. |
| Kannada | ಬ್ಯಾಂಕ್, ಪೊಲೀಸ್ ಅಥವಾ ಯಾವುದೇ ಅಸಲಿ ಕಂಪನಿಯವರು ಫೋನ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಹತ್ತಿರ ಹಣ ಅಥವಾ ಕೋಡ್ ಕೇಳುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಯಾರಾದರೂ ಕೇಳಿದರೆ, ತಕ್ಷಣ ಫೋನ್ ಇಟ್ಟು ನಮಗೆ ಕರೆ ಮಾಡಿ. |
| Malayalam | ബാങ്കോ, പോലീസോ, മറ്റേതെങ്കിലും കമ്പനിയോ ഫോണിലൂടെ നിങ്ങളോട് പണമോ കോഡോ ചോദിക്കില്ല. ആരെങ്കിലും ചോദിച്ചാൽ, ഉടൻ ഫോൺ വെച്ച് ഞങ്ങളെ വിളിക്കൂ. |
| Punjabi | ਬੈਂਕ, ਪੁਲਿਸ ਜਾਂ ਕੋਈ ਵੀ ਅਸਲੀ ਕੰਪਨੀ ਕਦੇ ਵੀ ਫ਼ੋਨ 'ਤੇ ਤੁਹਾਡੇ ਕੋਲੋਂ ਪੈਸੇ ਜਾਂ ਕੋਡ ਨਹੀਂ ਮੰਗੇਗੀ। ਜੇਕਰ ਕੋਈ ਅਜਿਹਾ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈ, ਤਾਂ ਤੁਰੰਤ ਫ਼ੋਨ ਕੱਟ ਕੇ ਸਾਨੂੰ ਫ਼ੋਨ ਕਰੋ। |
| Odia | କୌଣସି ଅସଲି ବ୍ୟାଙ୍କ, ପୋଲିସ କିମ୍ବା କମ୍ପାନୀ କେବେ ବି ଫୋନରେ ଆପଣଙ୍କୁ ପଇସା କିମ୍ବା କୋଡ୍ ମାଗିବେ ନାହିଁ। ଯଦି କେହି ମାଗେ, ତେବେ ତୁରନ୍ତ ଫୋନ ରଖି ଆମକୁ କଲ୍ କରନ୍ତୁ। |
| Assamese | কোনো আচল বেংক, পুলিচ বা কোম্পানীয়ে কেতিয়াও ফোনত আপোনাক পইচা বা ক’ড নিবিচাৰে। যদি কোনোবাই বিচাৰে, লগে লগে ফোনটো কাটি আমাক ফোন কৰিব। |
Three habits go with the line, and are worth repeating on your own calls until they stick:
- Never read out a code. Not to the bank, not to the police, not to a grandson.
- Never move money because a caller said so. Hang up, ring the family, decide together.
- Never ring back the number the caller gave. Look the bank's number up on the card.
If money has already gone
Speed matters more than anything. Ring 1930, the national cyber-crime helpline, or report at cybercrime.gov.in at once: within the first hour or two banks can often freeze the money before it is moved on. Then ring the bank's own fraud line. Keep every SMS, every number and every screenshot. And say, firmly, that it was not your parent's fault: these are professional operations built to frighten, and shame is what keeps people from reporting.
What Meenira does about this
On every call she makes, Meenira follows the same rule she is asking your parent to follow: she never asks for a code, a bank or card number, or an Aadhaar number, and if one is spoken it is removed from the notes before they are stored. If your parent mentions a stranger asking for money or a code, you are told the same morning — the fact of the call is kept, the secret is not. She is not a fraud service and cannot stop a scam in progress; she is a daily voice reminding your parent that somebody is paying attention, which is exactly what these callers are counting on being absent.
What she does when something sounds wrong The eleven languages
Questions families ask
What is the 'digital arrest' scam?
A caller claiming to be police, customs or a court tells your parent they are under investigation and must stay on a video call, often for hours, and transfer money to 'clear' themselves. There is no such thing as a digital arrest. No police force in India arrests anyone over a phone or video call.
What should my parents do if they get a suspicious call?
Put the phone down without arguing, and ring you or another family member. Never share a one-time code, never move money on a caller's instruction, and never call back a number the caller gave.
What do I do if my parent has already sent money?
Ring 1930 (the national cyber-crime helpline) or report at cybercrime.gov.in immediately — within the first hour or two, banks can often freeze the money before it is moved on. Then ring the bank. Keep every message and number.