Mumbai Cyber Fraud: After being threatened with arrest on fictitious anti-India funding charges, an elderly man was defrauded of ₹87 lakh
Mumbai Cyber Fraud: A startling tale of cyber fraud has surfaced from Mumbai’s Ghatkopar neighborhood, where an elderly man was defrauded of around ₹87 lakh by unnamed cybercriminals who falsely accused him of financially supporting an anti-India Muslim organization and threatened to arrest him. The East Region Cyber Police has opened an investigation and filed a case against three unidentified individuals under the Information Technology Act’s provisions and sections pertaining to cheating based on the victim’s complaint.
The complainant, a 64-year-old Ghatkopar man, owns a few local stores that he rents out. He was at his aunt’s house in Kandivli on December 25 when he got a call from an unidentified individual posing as Vinit Kumar, a police officer from the Data Protection Board of India. The caller said that a case had been filed against him at a Nashik police station. He was informed that he would need to go to Nashik to conduct an investigation and that he would shortly be contacted by Nashik Police.
Later, on December 29, a different person called the complainant over WhatsApp and identified himself as National Investigation Agency (NIA) officer Pradeep Jaiswal. The caller said that the complainant’s SIM card had sent many MMS messages and that specific sums had been deposited to his bank account on a commission basis of 10%. He said that there was proof of the complainant’s active participation in anti-national activities and that the funds were intended to support an anti-India Muslim organization to carry out acts against the country.
Between December 29, 2025, and January 1, 2026, the accused made many video calls in an effort to win his trust by presenting fake “evidence” against the victim. He warned that he may be arrested at any time and threatened to confiscate all of the complainant’s and his family’s property and freeze their bank accounts on instructions from the Supreme Court and the State Bank of India.
In addition, the scammers showed him certain papers and pictures of around 10 people, took information from his bank accounts, and convinced him to send money with the promise that it would be reimbursed after the investigation was over. The complainant sent ₹87.40 lakh to the accused’s bank account, believing their statements.
A few days later, Pradeep Jaiswal gave the victim another call and said that the investigation against him was over and that no evidence of participation was discovered. Within two days, he promised, the whole sum will be returned to the complainant’s bank account. The victim’s following calls were not answered, and the money was never refunded.
The old guy went to the police, believing there had been foul play. After investigation, it was discovered that he had been defrauded by online scammers. The police have filed a case under the IT Act and other provisions for cheating in response to his allegation. The East Region Cyber Police have been tasked with conducting the inquiry.
Additional investigation is under progress, according to police authorities, and attempts are being made to track out the specifics of the bank account that the fraudulent money was placed into.