Mumbai: A 75-year-old retired bank employee living alone in Mumbai’s Mahim was duped of Rs 32 lakh by cyber fraudsters who posed as telecom company representatives and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials. The Central cyber police registered a case on Sunday in connection with the elaborate scam that unfolded over February.
According to police, the elderly woman first received a call from a person claiming to be from a reputed telecom service provider. He cited a random number allegedly registered under her name and, when she denied any knowledge, told her she would soon be contacted by police.
Woman Threatened By Fake CBI Officer On Video Call
Soon after, she received a video call from a man identifying himself as 'Anil Sharma,' a fake CBI officer. According to a Hindustan Times report, the man falsely claimed that her Delhi-based bank account was involved in a money laundering case linked to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik. He showed her a forged bank passbook and fake money laundering documents, intimidating her by referencing her former workplace in banking.
The fraudsters warned her that the probe was highly confidential and ordered her not to discuss it with anyone. They kept her on an overnight video call to build pressure. The next day, another impersonator, 'Rajveer Singh,' also claiming to be a CBI official, contacted her. He probed into her finances, advising her to liquidate all her fixed deposits and transfer the amount to her savings account, under the pretext of coordination with the Reserve Bank of India’s deputy governor.
Under mounting pressure, the woman transferred Rs 32 lakh via RTGS. Toward the end of February, the scammers told her she had been cleared of the charges and sent her a forged Supreme Court document as reassurance that her funds would be returned.
Suspecting foul play, she contacted her former banking colleagues to verify the status of the fraudsters’ account and found it held just Rs 11. All her funds had already been siphoned off.
Case Filed Into The Matter
Police have registered a case against unidentified persons under multiple sections of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, including cheating by personation, general cheating, forgery and impersonating a public servant. Sections of the Information Technology Act also apply, and investigations are ongoing.
