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Home > Mumbai > Mumbai Crime News > Article > Mumbai Retired teacher loses Rs 118 lakh after replying to ad in newspaper

Mumbai: Retired teacher loses Rs 11.8 lakh after replying to ad in newspaper

Updated on: 04 February,2025 08:18 AM IST  |  Mumbai
Faizan Khan | faizan.khan@mid-day.com

Scamster posing as police officer accused senior citizen of laundering money, manipulated her over four-hour video call

Mumbai: Retired teacher loses Rs 11.8 lakh after replying to ad in newspaper

Scamsters posed as police officers and the chief justice to defraud the woman. Representation Pic/istock

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Cybercriminals are now using newspaper advertisements to lure people and dupe them of lakhs. In one such case, a 70-year-old retired teacher from Goregaon was swindled out of Rs 11.8 lakh by a cyber fraudster. The woman came across an advertisement in a leading newspaper for a part-time job and contacted the provided numbers. She was later falsely accused of money laundering and was “digitally arrested” for several hours. Under pressure, she was forced to break her fixed deposits, ultimately losing Rs 11.8 lakh before realising she had fallen victim to cyber fraud. The North Cyber Cell has registered an FIR and is investigating the matter.  


According to the complainant, the fraud took place between April and December last year. She first came across an advertisement in a leading English newspaper about “PenPencil Company Pvt Ltd,” which offered a work-from-home opportunity for product packaging. She contacted the number provided in the advertisement, where a man identifying himself as Vinod answered the call and explained the job details. She was then asked to make an advance payment of Rs 53,150 via Google Pay. 


The complainant further told the police that on December 18, she received a call from an unknown number, informing her that her phone services would be suspended as her number was allegedly linked to money laundering. The caller then connected her to another person who identified himself as Rahul Gupta, claiming to be a police officer. He instructed her to visit Colaba police station, but when she explained that she lived in Goregaon and travelling to Colaba would be difficult, he told her he would connect her with the chief justice. However, the call did not go through.


Shortly after, she received a video call in which she could see a board reading “Colaba police station” in the background, along with a person dressed as a police officer speaking on the phone. She was instructed not to disclose the call to anyone. She was then introduced to a man claiming to be Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna, who began questioning her. He accused her of lacking proof of her innocence in the alleged money laundering case and claimed she needed to be arrested.  

During the video call, the so-called police officer, Rahul, stated that she was innocent, but the impersonator posing as the chief justice shouted at him, demanding who had given him the authority to decide innocence.  The woman was then asked about her bank accounts and fixed deposits (FDs). The video call, which lasted over four hours, continued as she was pressured into breaking her FD and transferring the money to the bank accounts provided to her. The impersonating officer instructed her not to speak to anyone or inform anyone without his permission. Later, she received a WhatsApp file titled “Notary Secret Supervision Account,” which contained details of two different accounts where she ultimately transferred Rs 11.8 lakh.  It was only later that she realised she had been scammed. She immediately called the cybercrime helpline 1930 and registered her complaint.

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