Mumbai: A 70-year-old Andheri resident fell victim to an elaborate year-long cyber fraud, losing over Rs 1.1 crore from his savings while attempting to secure a Rs 10 crore loan at a low-interest rate. The cyber police registered an FIR on Monday after the senior citizen filed a complaint detailing how he was tricked through 68 transactions.
Details Of The Fraud
The fraud began on October 28, 2023, when the complainant received a call from a man named Anil Yadav, who introduced himself as an executive from a Delhi-based financial institution. Yadav offered the complainant a Rs 10 crore loan at a low interest rate, provided he first purchased a health insurance policy. Soon after, a woman identifying herself as Tiwari contacted the complainant and instructed him to pay Rs 5 lakh for the policy, which he transferred online.
Despite making the payment, the complainant received no clarity on when his loan would be processed. Months later, in May 2024, he was contacted by a man named Mayank Gupta, who claimed to work at the Bengaluru branch of the same financial institution, reported Times of India.
Gupta convinced him that securing the loan from Bengaluru would require only a 10 per cent commission instead of the 20 per cent charged by the Delhi branch. However, he also claimed that the complainant’s loan file contained errors that needed rectification, requiring additional payments.
Victim Assured Loan Disbursement Through Fake Claims
To make the scam appear legitimate, the fraudsters sent the complainant various ‘official documents’ over the phone, including a return demand draft memo, bank final settlement charges, an NOC and a payment confirmation report. These documents reassured him that the loan process was underway. The complainant was even introduced to a supposed ‘general manager’ of the financial institution, who promised him that the loan would be disbursed soon.
Over the course of the year, the scammers manipulated the senior citizen into making repeated payments under different pretexts, eventually extracting a total of Rs 1.14 crore in 68 transactions. After months of waiting without receiving the promised loan, the complainant finally realised he had been duped and approached the police.
The cyber police have launched an investigation into the case, tracking the fraudsters based on the financial transactions and phone records. Officials have warned the public to be cautious of such fraudulent loan schemes and verify financial offers through official channels before making any payments.
