Pune woman loses ₹99 lakh to phone scam

India Nov 11, 2025

A retired LIC officer from Pune lost ₹99 lakh after falling for a convincing phone scam.
Posing as officials from a fake "Data Protection Agency," scammers told her that her Aadhaar was linked to fraud cases and even used a fake arrest warrant with the finance minister's name to scare her into transferring money.

Scammers used fake arrest warrant with finance minister's name

Claiming she was involved in money laundering, the scammers insisted she urgently move funds to what they said were RBI accounts—actually just mule accounts in Thane.
Sadly, these kinds of scams using big agency names are on the rise, and police are now investigating.
Even with awareness campaigns, it's a reminder to double-check before acting on any suspicious call.