Elderly Bengaluru Residents Lose Rs 80.5 Lakh in Sophisticated Banking Scam by Fake RBI Officials

A 74-year-old Bengaluru resident fell victim to an elaborate scam, losing Rs 80,50,000 after fraudsters impersonated police and Reserve Bank of India officials and threatened him with a fabricated money laundering case.

According to the filed FIR, the senior citizen received a WhatsApp call on October 30 from an unknown caller claiming to be a DCP assistant. The scammer stated they possessed the victim's Aadhaar card details, banking information, and other personal data. They further alleged that funds in both the victim's and his sister's accounts were fraudulent and required RBI verification.

Intimidated by these threats, the elderly man disclosed his banking information to the scammers. Subsequently, he was manipulated into liquidating his Post Office fixed deposit worth Rs 30 lakh and transferring an additional Rs 35 lakh to bank accounts provided by the criminals the following day.

The perpetrators, who contacted the victims from various international and Indian phone numbers, reportedly ordered both the complainant and his sister to remain at home and avoid communication with others. They were told they were under surveillance and faced imminent arrest if they disobeyed.

By November 3, the victim's sister had also broken her Post Office fixed deposit, depositing the funds into her SBI account. The next day, she was coerced into transferring Rs 16 lakh and Rs 19,00,047 to two separate accounts controlled by the fraudsters.

The scam continued when, on November 10, another Rs 10.5 lakh was extracted from the complainant's ICICI account and directed to the same Canara Bank account previously utilized. The total financial loss amounted to Rs 80.5 lakh.

The fraud was finally discovered when, on November 29, another WhatsApp caller instructed the victim to visit the police station, which prompted him to file an official complaint. Law enforcement has registered a case and initiated efforts to locate the unidentified perpetrators.