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A 77-year-old woman from South Mumbai was duped of Rs 3.8 crore in a month-long cyber fraud that saw con artists posing as senior law enforcement officials. The elderly homemaker, who lives with her retired husband, was kept under “digital arrest” for a month under the pretext of a fake money laundering case and threatened with arrest.
The ordeal began when the woman received a WhatsApp call claiming that a parcel she had allegedly sent to Taiwan had been intercepted by authorities.
The caller stated that the package contained five passports, a bank card, 4 kilograms of clothing, and MDMA drugs. When the woman denied sending any such parcel, the caller alleged that her Aadhaar card details had been used in the purported crime.
To add credibility to their claims, the fraudsters connected her to a man who introduced himself as IPS officer Anand Rana. Under the pretext of investigating her role in money laundering, he demanded details of her bank accounts.
Soon after, another fraudster, claiming to be IPS officer George Mathew from the finance department, joined the call. He instructed the woman to transfer money into shared bank accounts for verification, reassuring her that the funds would be returned if she was found innocent.
To further establish their authority, the scammers sent her a fabricated notice stamped with the Crime Branch’s seal. They also instructed her to keep her video call active for 24 hours to monitor her compliance.
The woman initially transferred Rs 15 lakh, but the pressure did not end there.
Whenever the video call was disconnected for any reason, the fraudsters would threaten her to restart the video immediately. This continued for a month, during which the woman was defrauded of nearly Rs 4 crore.
The Mumbai Crime Branch has taken up the case and launched a thorough investigation. Authorities believe the scam was meticulously planned, using fear tactics and fabricated evidence to isolate the victim and gain her trust.
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