81-year-old Chandigarh woman duped of ₹95 lakh over phone by ‘CBI officers’
According to the victim, a resident of Sector 47-C, Chandigarh, she received a WhatsApp call on January 15; the caller falsely claimed that her 90-year-old husband Gurdial Singh Takhar’s Aadhaar card had been misused in a money laundering case.
An 81-year-old woman, wife of a retired army officer, fell victim to a sophisticated cyber fraud, losing ₹95 lakh from her retirement account after fraudsters posing as CBI and RBI officials manipulated her into transferring the money.
According to the complaint filed by Anil Kaur Takhar, a resident of Sector 47-C, she received a WhatsApp call on January 15. The caller falsely claimed that her 90-year-old husband Gurdial Singh Takhar’s Aadhaar card had been misused in a money laundering case.
This statement caused panic, making her vulnerable to further manipulation. The fraudsters gained her trust by pretending to be senior officials from CBI and RBI. Under the pretext of verifying her financial transactions, they convinced her to reveal confidential bank account details.
She was then instructed over the phone to make a series of transfers, believing she was cooperating with an official investigation.
The fraudulent transactions began on January 18, when ₹5 lakh were withdrawn via RTGS transfer. On the same day, an additional ₹20 lakh were transferred through a cheque.
A few days later, on January 21, another ₹21.39 lakh were transferred via RTGS to Karur Vysya Bank. The largest transaction occurred on January 28, when ₹50.12 lakh were sent through RTGS to Yes Bank, credited to A Shanoy Foundation.
Upon realising the fraud, Anil Kaur Takhar visited the Cyber Crime police station in Sector 17 and lodged a formal complaint on January 31. Subsequently, a case under Sections 319 (2), 318 (4), 338, 336 (3), 340 (2) and 61 (2) of BNS was registered against the unidentified fraudsters.
Police have launched an investigation to track down the accused and recover the money.