Pune officer loses ₹2cr to fake money-laundering scam
A 57-year-old Maharashtra government officer from Pune lost almost ₹2 crore after falling for a digital scam.
Over five months, fraudsters convinced him he was linked to a fake money-laundering case, even showing a forged Supreme Court warrant to make it look real.
Fearing trouble, he kept transferring money to "clear his name"—until he realized it was all a setup.
Scam used fake CBI identity and WhatsApp calls
The fraud started with a WhatsApp call from someone pretending to be "CBI Sub Inspector Sharma," who claimed the officer was part of a ₹70 crore scam.
Using official-sounding language and fake documents, they got him to share his bank details and send funds for so-called verification.
Only after losing his savings did a friend alert him; he then reported the crime to cyber police, highlighting how these scams still catch people off guard despite all the warnings.