One Edited PDF, Three Banks, and a Life-Changing Lesson

[TechnoFinoTechnoFino is verified member.]

A few days ago, a TechnoFino Community member reached out to me and urgently requested a call.
He said, “Sir, this might turn into a police case. I don’t know what to do… I’m young, please help.”

I gave him time and listened to his full story.
Let me share it with all of you - because this can happen to anyone if you’re not careful.

Mr. Unknown — A Young College Guy, Just Like Many TFCians​

Mr. Unknown is a college-going youngster, passionate about credit cards just like thousands of TFCians.

He has credit cards from:

• ICICI Bank
• Axis Bank
• HDFC Bank

But for the last 4 years, he wasn’t getting any limit enhancement on his HDFC card - again, very common among many of us.

His limit remained low, no matter how many times he tried.

The Agent & The Wrong Advice​

One day, he met a third-party agent who tried selling him a new HDFC Bank credit card.
Mr. Unknown told him:

“I already have HDFC, but my limit hasn’t increased for 4 years.”

The agent instantly suggested a shortcut:

“Edit your income documents. Show more income. HDFC will increase your limit.”

At first he knew it wasn’t ethical.
But after a few days of frustration, he gave in.

He edited:

• a salary slip from his family’s business (Salary: Rs. 2,04,129 per month)
• his IDFC First Bank account statement

And emailed them to HDFC for limit enhancement.

Email Copy (Mr. Unknown to HDFC Bank, Request for limit enhancement):



His edited IDFC First Bank's account statement:



He even sent similar emails to ICICI and Axis for the same purpose.

And guess what?

ICICI and Axis both increased his limit.

But…

HDFC Detected the Forged Statement​

According to HDFC, they sent someone to IDFC First Bank to verify the account statement - and immediately found it had been edited.

The next day, HDFC officers called him:

• Why did you submit a forged document?
• Did any HDFC employee ask you to do this?
• Who helped you edit these documents?

He panicked.

He did not name the agent.
He simply said he was frustrated, wasn’t getting a limit increase, made a mistake and apologised.

Two or three HDFC officers spoke to him.
After repeated apologies, they told him:

• Send a written apology email
• No legal action will be taken considering his age
• But his HDFC credit card will be cancelled
• Blacklisting decision will be made by the backend team

He immediately sent the apology email. Here is the copy:



And, after all this, he also cancelled his ICICI Bank and Axis Bank credit cards out of fear of future scrutiny.

TFCians — Don’t Risk Your Future for a Credit Card or it's Limit​

Credit cards are part of our lifestyle, yes, but nothing is worth taking a criminal risk.

This time, he got lucky.
HDFC didn’t file a police case.

But he may still be banned for life by HDFC.

Submitting forged documents to a bank is punishable under:

• Section 336 & Section 340 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)
  (Some parts, like Section 336(3), are non-bailable.)

Young people - 20, 22, 24 - often don’t think about consequences.
But today’s banking systems are extremely advanced.

Maybe one bank won’t catch you.
But eventually, you will get caught.

And a single legal issue can impact:

• future loans
• CIBIL score
• job background checks
• banking relationships

Nothing is worth losing your peace of mind.

A credit card or credit limit enhancement is not worth risking your entire future.

A Reality Check from the Old Days​

Between 2017 and 2022, many bank agents used to casually tell customers to “edit income documents” to get a card.

But times have changed.

I personally know:

• a banker who faced internal inquiry for this
• a customer who got blacklisted for submitting forged documents

So please don’t repeat their mistakes.

Be safe.
Live peacefully.

Don’t do foolish things for a piece of plastic or metal.
A credit card is meant to make life easier - not destroy it.

This post is purely for awareness.
I hope every TFCian, especially the younger ones, takes this seriously.

 

[Dr. Hritaban]

 

[Harry1]

Interesting.

Is it normal to verify income documents with other Banks like this? Or was it something suspicious, that triggered them to verify it physically? Also, is it ethical to share a customer's data with third party bank?

 

[Dreams Of Desire 💓]

Interesting.

Is it normal to verify income documents with other Banks like this? Or was it something suspicious, that triggered them to verify it physically? Also, is it ethical to share a customer's data with third party bank?

Its the income. The account type.
*a salary slip from his family’s business (Salary: Rs. 2,04,129 per month)*

 

[akshayhs]

Interesting.

Is it normal to verify income documents with other Banks like this? Or was it something suspicious, that triggered them to verify it physically? Also, is it ethical to share a customer's data with third party bank?

Nowadays since the ITD has made it so convenient to track our finances, one bank doesn't even need to tap to the other bank. When it comes to sharing as well, they don't need to look into ethics since the integrations have been made so easy as well.

 

[TechnoFinoTechnoFino is verified member.]

Interesting.

Is it normal to verify income documents with other Banks like this? Or was it something suspicious, that triggered them to verify it physically? Also, is it ethical to share a customer's data with third party bank?

It’s just like returning from an international trip after buying goods worth more than ₹50,000 and not declaring them at customs... and on a bad day, the customs officer randomly picks you for inspection.

Banks work the same way. They can always verify documents from the source. In this case, the statement was issued by IDFC First Bank, and HDFC simply verified it with them. That is completely allowed and absolutely ethical.

 

[Harry1]

Its the income. The account type.
*a salary slip from his family’s business (Salary: Rs. 2,04,129 per month)*

I am not sure about account type. Even I use my savings account for salary credit as well (not converted to Salary account). I think many people would have liked that.

 

[Harry1]

Nowadays since the ITD has made it so convenient to track our finances, one bank doesn't even need to tap to the other bank. When it comes to sharing as well, they don't need to look into ethics since the integrations have been made so easy as well.

Didn't understand what you mean by "convenient to track out finances" and "don't even need to tap"? Are you referring about AIS? It still doesn't have a lot of information. Or, Are you saying banks already have info of ITR? If yes, why do they even ask us to provide it?

 

[sovon]

I am not sure about account type. Even I use my savings account for salary credit as well (not converted to Salary account). I think many people would have liked that.

Yes even my friend is withdrawing salary from government institution on his savings account. I told him to open a salary account, he said his employer has no issue with the account type.

 

[Sobirvs]

It’s just like returning from an international trip after buying goods worth more than ₹50,000 and not declaring them at customs... and on a bad day, the customs officer randomly picks you for inspection.

Banks work the same way. They can always verify documents from the source. In this case, the statement was issued by IDFC First Bank, and HDFC simply verified it with them. That is completely allowed and absolutely ethical.

I donn't think this is correct. Why would idfc allow hdfc to verify someone's personal statement? That's breach of privacy. Either IDFC can be sued here easily. Or HDFC can be sued (if they lied about verifying docs with idfc, where they indeed didn't but they bluffed with the customer). For sure hdfc can't do this legally neither idfc can allow this legally. Some higher up knowing someone at idfc and personally checking but not officially is a completely different matter. In court, this evidence that they checked with idfc won't be permissible.

Has RBI guidelines give authority to some bank to check with a different bank about a customer? There might be one, highly unlikely.

Ofc the person forging the docs won't have resources/mileage for going after hdfc (even morally), but he certainly has a case here. That ofc comes with exposing himself, but court won't give a F about an individual forging docs, as he's a smaller fish. Court would love to know a huge bank violating laws.

 

[princesai]

Even banks are dump, they have tortoise process for credit card limit increase. Instead of sending documents via courier and self attested. Who will follow this in 2025. They can partner with account aggregator like anumati to access bank statement and increase credit limit on demand. Sbi following same process. Bank want to sell it's own products, will it selling ethically ~ Absolute not. Increasing credit limit is pain in the ***.

 

[KLB@96]

How come IDFC agreed to share info with HDFC without customers consent ?

 

[@NIK]

Here, HDFC Bank is Also lie TOO Much(PNO & NO Officer, I have mail), On My Cibil having a 3 Credit card inquiry from HDFC Bank, All 3 time's I submitted a Complete application . firstly A officer's Said "All 3 are Loan Application, Then I share a Proof, then it's accepted all 3 are Credit Application, Then Why All applications is Rejected Then, It's Reply is ALL are Incomplete. Now , I share a Application Final submit proof here My credit card is instantly Rejected, NOW - Bank doesn't Reply (PNO)

 

[jack333]

Banks use third parties to get RCU report. I think these have links with all banks to get account statement unofficially in exchange for some cash. This step is many times omitted if we get a card preapproved or apply offline through a agent as this verification responsibility lies on him.

 

[travtasy]

Banks should also be transparent while rejecting credit card applications, upgrades and limit enhancement requests. Instead of the standard vague rejection message due to internal criteria and message again after a certain period of time, they should explicitly mention the exact reason behind the rejection, so that that the user can be aware of the specific requirement that led to the rejection and work upon to improve on it. This will also help in the user then not unnecessarily pestering the bank till the criteria is met.

Also the entire grievance redressal mechanism is a sham in every bank and is only a time waste mechanism that creates frustration, as they all toe the same line that the branch manager initially decides, without applying their mind further.

 

[LUCiF3R]

But how filling the form with wrong income details while applying is different from this edited income docs?

Have seen people with no jobs having credit limit of 5lacs just because they filled the wrong income details but obviously they have good scores.
Asking just for educational reasons.

 

[realamith]

looking at such cases. I doubt wts private lending business sitting on. he easily fooled 2/3 banks. looks like private banks are in a bursting bubble.

 

[Aniket]

A few days ago, a TechnoFino Community member reached out to me and urgently requested a call.
He said, “Sir, this might turn into a police case. I don’t know what to do… I’m young, please help.”

I gave him time and listened to his full story.
Let me share it with all of you - because this can happen to anyone if you’re not careful.

Mr. Unknown — A Young College Guy, Just Like Many TFCians​

Mr. Unknown is a college-going youngster, passionate about credit cards just like thousands of TFCians.

He has credit cards from:

• ICICI Bank
• Axis Bank
• HDFC Bank

But for the last 4 years, he wasn’t getting any limit enhancement on his HDFC card - again, very common among many of us.

His limit remained low, no matter how many times he tried.

The Agent & The Wrong Advice​

One day, he met a third-party agent who tried selling him a new HDFC Bank credit card.
Mr. Unknown told him:


The agent instantly suggested a shortcut:


At first he knew it wasn’t ethical.
But after a few days of frustration, he gave in.

He edited:

• a salary slip from his family’s business (Salary: Rs. 2,04,129 per month)
• his IDFC First Bank account statement

And emailed them to HDFC for limit enhancement.

Email Copy (Mr. Unknown to HDFC Bank, Request for limit enhancement):

View attachment 116172

His edited IDFC First Bank's account statement:

View attachment 116173

He even sent similar emails to ICICI and Axis for the same purpose.

And guess what?

ICICI and Axis both increased his limit.

But…

HDFC Detected the Forged Statement​

According to HDFC, they sent someone to IDFC First Bank to verify the account statement - and immediately found it had been edited.

The next day, HDFC officers called him:

• Why did you submit a forged document?
• Did any HDFC employee ask you to do this?
• Who helped you edit these documents?

He panicked.

He did not name the agent.
He simply said he was frustrated, wasn’t getting a limit increase, made a mistake and apologised.

Two or three HDFC officers spoke to him.
After repeated apologies, they told him:

• Send a written apology email
• No legal action will be taken considering his age
• But his HDFC credit card will be cancelled
• Blacklisting decision will be made by the backend team

He immediately sent the apology email. Here is the copy:

View attachment 116174

And, after all this, he also cancelled his ICICI Bank and Axis Bank credit cards out of fear of future scrutiny.

TFCians — Don’t Risk Your Future for a Credit Card or it's Limit​

Credit cards are part of our lifestyle, yes, but nothing is worth taking a criminal risk.

This time, he got lucky.
HDFC didn’t file a police case.

But he may still be banned for life by HDFC.

Submitting forged documents to a bank is punishable under:

• Section 336 & Section 340 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)
  (Some parts, like Section 336(3), are non-bailable.)

Young people - 20, 22, 24 - often don’t think about consequences.
But today’s banking systems are extremely advanced.

Maybe one bank won’t catch you.
But eventually, you will get caught.

And a single legal issue can impact:

• future loans
• CIBIL score
• job background checks
• banking relationships

Nothing is worth losing your peace of mind.

A credit card or credit limit enhancement is not worth risking your entire future.

A Reality Check from the Old Days​

Between 2017 and 2022, many bank agents used to casually tell customers to “edit income documents” to get a card.

But times have changed.

I personally know:

• a banker who faced internal inquiry for this
• a customer who got blacklisted for submitting forged documents

So please don’t repeat their mistakes.

Be safe.
Live peacefully.

Don’t do foolish things for a piece of plastic or metal.
A credit card is meant to make life easier - not destroy it.

This post is purely for awareness.
I hope every TFCian, especially the younger ones, takes this seriously.

What reply did he get from HDFC after the apology email? Got forgiveness or blacklisted for life?

This post hasn't put him at risk of being blacklisted by other two banks as well (even though he had already terminated the cardholdership), as we know executives from various banks are present here and this is available in google search results as well, what if they take the matter seriously like HDFC or even proceed with legal action?

Moral of the story: The greedy man reaches for more but spills what he has.

Mr. Unknown, take it as a life lesson, let the bygones be bygones & move on, thinking you got saved, otherwise consequences could have been worse than the mere termination of cardholdership.✌️

 

[Odyssey]

@Donald J. Trump Bhot guru ghantal aadmi ho tum to😛

 

[Donald J. Trump]

@Donald J. Trump Bhot guru ghantal aadmi ho tum to😛

Why tag me?