Mumbai woman loses Rs 4.62 crore in ‘CBI arrest’ scam, two arrested for helping cyber fraudsters

Mumbai: A 74-year-old retired IIT Bombay staff member was duped of Rs 4.62 crore after fraudsters threatened her with arrest in the name of the CBI. Police have arrested two men who allegedly allowed their bank accounts to be used to receive the cheated money.

The victim, a former medical officer at IIT Bombay, received a video call from a man claiming to be a telecom department official. Soon after, another caller posed as an IPS officer and told her that her Aadhaar card had been misused to open a bank account linked to money laundering worth Rs 6 crore.

The fraudsters warned her that the Central Bureau of Investigation had registered a case and that she could be arrested. Frightened by the threats, the woman broke her fixed and recurring deposits and transferred Rs 4.62 crore to bank accounts shared by the callers between October 2025 and January 2026.

When she later realised she had been cheated, she approached the police.

Investigators registered a case of cheating by impersonation along with charges under the Information Technology Act. The case was later handed over to the Western Region Cyber Cell.

During the probe, police traced the money trail to Narendra Sinha and Gunjan Devkumar Dineshchandra. Officials said the two had opened several bank accounts and shared the details with cyber fraudsters. The money deposited in these accounts was allegedly withdrawn by them and passed on to the scammers in return for a commission.

Both men have been arrested, and further investigation is underway to identify others involved in the fraud.

(with inputs from agencies)