A 79-year-old resident of Domalguda was duped of â¹35.74 lakh after being manipulated by callers posing as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials.The fraudsters falsely implicated the elderly man in a fabricated money laundering case and coerced him into transferring his life savings over a period of ten days.The incident unfolded on July 6, 2025, when the victim received a phone call from a man identifying himself as Vijay Khanna, allegedly a CBI officer calling from Colaba police station in Mumbai. The caller claimed that a bank account registered in the victimâs name at Canara Bankâs Colaba branch was linked to money laundering operations involving a suspect named Naresh Goel. To lend credibility to the allegation, the caller cited a fabricated FIR number and shared forged documents purporting to be Supreme Court orders and official CBI warrants.Over the course of several calls, the victim was systematically intimidated and warned not to disclose the matter to anyone, citing national security concerns and the alleged involvement of high-profile individuals. The scammers convinced the elderly man that the investigation was being monitored by the apex court and that his cooperation was necessary to avoid arrest or further complications.Under the pretext of verifying the funds in his account, the fraudsters instructed the victim to transfer his money to bank accounts they provided, with the assurance that the funds would be returned once cleared. Another individual, introducing himself as Ayush Gupta, a so-called investigation officer, joined the call and exerted further pressure, urging the victim to comply without delay.The victim transferred a total of â¹35,74,094 between July 6 and 16. He was later told that his name had been cleared from the suspect list and asked to collect his money from the nearest crime branch office.It was only then, when he sought to follow up with local authorities, that he realised he had been defrauded. The man approached the cyber crime police station in Hyderabad, where a case has now been registered.A case was booked and investigation is currently under way to trace the accounts and identify those behind the calls.Published - July 24, 2025 12:28 am IST