Pune: A 76-year-old woman was duped of ₹21.65 lakh by a cyber fraudster who posed as a police inspector from Panchavati Police Station. The accused tricked her into believing that her Aadhaar card had been misused for money laundering and that she would be arrested if she didn’t cooperate. Fearing legal consequences, the woman broke all her fixed deposits and transferred the entire amount into the fraudster’s bank accounts. A case has been registered at Alankar Police Station.
According to the complaint lodged by the woman, an unidentified cyber fraudster first contacted her while she was at home in Karvenagar, where she resides with her son. The caller claimed to be speaking from the Department of Communications (DoC) and informed her that her Aadhaar card had been misused by a man named Naresh Goyal for money laundering purposes. The fraudster warned her that she might face arrest and pretended to connect her call to the Panchavati Police Station in Nashik.
Another person then came on the line, claiming to be Police Inspector Pise. He questioned her about how her Aadhaar card was linked, who lived in her house, and assured her that he could help her get out of the case, but instructed her not to share any information with anyone.
The next day, the woman received a video call. On the screen appeared a man dressed in a police uniform, again identifying himself as Inspector Pise. He claimed that a money laundering investigation was underway and asked her for complete details of her bank accounts and fixed deposits.
Trusting the man, the woman broke all her fixed deposits and transferred the funds into eight different bank accounts as instructed. When she asked when she would get her money back, the caller told her it would be returned after the inquiry.
Eventually, she mentioned the incident to a known acquaintance, who immediately realized it was a scam. She then rushed to the police and filed a complaint. The case is now under investigation by Alankar Police.
