E-Paper
Two senior citizens duped of ₹3.25 crore in cyber fraud
In two cases of cyber fraud, fraudsters allegedly cheated elderly citizens of over ₹3.25 crore after posing as officials and threatening them with arrest in fabricated money laundering cases
Pune: In two separate cases of cyber fraud, elderly citizens were cheated of over ₹3.25 crore after fraudsters allegedly posed as officials and threatened them with arrest in fabricated money laundering cases. The cases were lodged on Wednesday.
In the first case, a 70-year-old resident of Erandwane lodged a complaint with the cyber police, stating that he was duped after he received a call from a person claiming to be “Rahul Roy” from the “Personal Data Protection of India, Andheri West” between January 13 and February 4.
The caller allegedly informed him that his Aadhaar card had been misused to open a fake bank account and that obscene videos and photos were being circulated on social media through a mobile number linked to him. The fraudster claimed that the complainant was in contact with a banned organisation and a fraud of ₹1.5 crore had been committed through his mobile number. Under pressure and threats, the complainant and his wife were forced to transfer ₹2,01,90,247 into different bank accounts and the couple did not inform their daughter and son-in-law, who live in Pune.
In another incident, an 86-year-old resident of Wanowrie filed a complaint with the cyber police after being cheated of ₹1,27,53,000.
According to the complaint, the victim received a WhatsApp video call on December 19, 2025, from two individuals dressed in police uniforms. The callers claimed that a money laundering case had been registered at Colaba Police Station in Mumbai and alleged that a bank account in the victim’s name at Canara Bank had been used for illegal transactions. Under the pretext of “verification”, they coerced him into transferring ₹1,27,53,000 to various bank accounts.
