A 70-year-old Pune man living alone was first lured into a fraudulent investment scheme in the name of fictitious company floated by Mukesh Ambani, Sachin Tendulkar and P Chidambaram, and then terrorised with threats of arrest in a fabricated money laundering case invoking name former Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal. In the two successive cyber frauds over 10 months, the senior citizen lost a staggering Rs 2.10 crore.According to the FIR registered at the Pune City Cyber Police Station on October 30, the 70-year-old complainant lost Rs 1.07 crore in the investment fraud and Rs 1.02 crore in the digital arrest scam, officials said.A few months ago while browsing the Internet, he came across an advertisement for a ‘Venture Capital’ which used the names of Ambani, Tendulkar and Chidambaram as its promoters.The advertisement promised that an investment of Rs 20,000 would yield returns of Rs 80,000 within a week.After contacting the number mentioned in the advertisement, he was approached by a person identifying himself as the manager with the company and said its office was in the United Kingdom. On his instructions, the complainant transferred Rs 20,000 through an online payment app.A week later, “the manager” sent him a statement showing that his investment had grown to Rs 80,000. He advised the complainant against withdrawing the money, promising further interest and additional benefits. He was subsequently encouraged to invest Rs 5 lakh, with a promise of a monthly bonus of 500 dollars.The 70-year-old man transferred the amount and was subsequently given pretext for cryptocurrency, gold and bronze trading investment for more transfers, with the fraudsters sending him statements showing substantial profits. Over a period of four months he transferred another Rs 1.07 crore from account to multiple mule accounts provided by the fraudsters.Story continues below this adThe complainant stated when attempted to withdraw the money, he was asked to pay an additional Rs 13.5 lakh. It was at this point he realised that he had been a victim of cyber fraud. Before he could recover from the first fraud, he was targeted in a second scam, this time involving threats of arrest and a purported money laundering investigation.In July 2026, he received a call from a person claiming to represent the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The caller told him that a SIM card registered in his name was being used in criminal activities. He started getting calls from Cyber fraudsters posing as Mumbai Police Crime Branch officers. The fraudsters told him that an ATM card in his name had been seized among 247 cards during an investigation into money laundering involving Naresh Goyal. In order to get a fictitious ‘police clearance’ for these phoney charges, he was asked to transfer his deposits while being in ‘digital arrest’ for verification.The victim was instructed not to disclose the matter to anyone and to transfer money from all his bank accounts to accounts provided by the purported officers for investigation. He was assured that the money would be returned once the inquiry was completed. In a span of a few weeks, he transferred Rs 1.02 crore from his accounts to six mule accounts.The fraudsters subsequently started pressuring him to arrange more money, even asking him to sell his flat. They threatened that he would be arrested by the Enforcement Directorate if he disclosed the matter to anyone. As the victim started seeking his money back, the callers went incommunicado. Realising that he had been defrauded, he approached the police and reported both frauds. Police have registered offences under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita for the total fraud amount of Rs 2.1 crore.