Ahmedabad: In a chilling case of psychological manipulation and digital impersonation, an 83-year-old retired Indian Navy officer was allegedly duped of ₹42.50 lakh after cyber fraudsters conducted a fake “CBI inquiry” and staged a mock courtroom over WhatsApp video calls, forcing him to liquidate fixed deposits and transfer the money for so-called verification.
The complaint was filed by the victim’s son, Chaitanya Chandel, a Satellite resident, after bank officials grew suspicious during a subsequent transaction and alerted the police. The fraud unfolded between December 8 and 10 and is now under investigation by the Cyber Crime Police.
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According to the FIR, the elderly officer first received a call from a man posing as a Telecom Department official who claimed multiple complaints had been registered against his mobile number. The caller told him the case had been escalated to the CBI’s Mumbai unit.
Soon after, the victim received a WhatsApp video call from a person identifying himself as Pradeep Kumar, who claimed to be a CBI officer. He alleged that ₹20 lakh had been transferred into the victim’s bank account by a person named Naresh Goyal, and that the retired officer was under investigation in a money-laundering case.
To lend credibility, the fraudsters arranged another video call in which a man dressed as a judge appeared to conduct what looked like a courtroom proceeding. The “judge” allegedly told the victim that 27 cases had been registered against him and warned that disclosure to family members would amount to obstruction of a confidential CBI inquiry.
Police said the victim was subjected to hours-long video calls, during which he was instructed not to leave his house or speak to anyone. He was allegedly threatened with arrest and reputational damage, a tactic commonly used in so-called “digital arrest” scams.
The fraudsters then directed him to write a declaration stating he was not involved in any wrongdoing and to share photographs of the signed statement along with his bank details on WhatsApp.
On December 9, the victim’s wife broke a fixed deposit at a private bank branch near ISKCON and transferred ₹21.24 lakh via RTGS to a YES Bank account provided by the callers, who claimed the money would be verified by the Reserve Bank of India and returned.
The next day, another fixed deposit was prematurely closed at a nationalised bank branch in Anandnagar, and ₹21.25 lakh was transferred to the same account.
In total, ₹42.50 lakh was siphoned off over two days.
The fraud came to light on December 11 when the family attempted another withdrawal and bank officials flagged the transaction as suspicious. An online complaint was filed on the national cybercrime portal before a formal FIR was registered.
Investigators said the accused appear to have deleted call logs and chat records from the victim’s phone, indicating remote manipulation or instructions to erase digital evidence.
An FIR has been registered against unidentified persons for cheating, impersonation and criminal conspiracy. Police are tracing the beneficiary bank account, transaction trail and IP logs to identify the operatives and any mule accounts used to layer the funds.
Cybercrime officials said the case bears the hallmarks of the growing “digital arrest” fraud model, where victims—often senior citizens—are isolated, intimidated and coerced into transferring money under the guise of law-enforcement verification.
Authorities reiterated that no investigative agency conducts inquiries via WhatsApp calls, demands secrecy from family members or asks citizens to transfer money for verification.
They urged the public to immediately disconnect such calls, inform relatives and report incidents on the national cybercrime helpline 1930 to prevent further losses.
About the author — Suvedita Nath is a science student with a growing interest in cybercrime and digital safety. She writes on online activity, cyber threats, and technology-driven risks. Her work focuses on clarity, accuracy, and public awareness.
