New Delhi: Scams are becoming more common and affecting people despite repeated warnings. In a shocking recent case, an 86-year-old woman from South Mumbai lost over Rs 20 crore of her savings to fraudsters. It all started with a phone call from someone pretending to be a CBI officer. The caller tricked her into believing that her bank account was involved in money laundering.
The scammer intimidated her with severe threats, including a so-called “digital arrest” and legal trouble for her family which forced her to comply. Under pressure, she was told to stay inside her home and not speak to anyone about the situation. For the next two months, the fraudsters kept calling her every few hours to track her location and ensure she remained isolated.
The scammers during this time tricked the woman into sharing her bank details, pretending they needed to “verify” her accounts. They convinced her that transferring money was necessary to clear her name from the fake money laundering case and assured her that the funds would be returned after the so-called investigation. Over two months, she ended up transferring more than Rs 20 crore to multiple accounts controlled by the fraudsters.
The scam was uncovered when the woman’s domestic help noticed her acting strangely and informed her daughter. Sensing something was wrong, the daughter reached out to the police, who quickly launched an investigation. Cyber police traced the stolen money across multiple bank accounts, managed to freeze Rs 77 lakh and identified those involved in the fraud.
The police arrested 20-year-old Shayan Jamil Shaikh from Malad after tracing Rs 4.99 lakh to his account. Further investigations led to the arrests of Razique Azan Butt from Mira Road and Hritik Shekhar Thakur from Andheri, both of whom had withdrawn large sums from the scam-related accounts.