'They said it was for tax and fees': Senior citizen spends Rs 64 lakh to 'recover' old insurance funds, ends up with a police notice for criminal activity instead

In a shocking case highlighting the growing menace of cyber fraud targeting senior citizens, a 62-year-old man from Navi Mumbai has lost a staggering Rs 64 lakh over four years to fraudsters who cleverly impersonated officials from insurance regulatory bodies. According to police, the victim’s ordeal began in January 2022 when he received a WhatsApp call from a person claiming to be an official from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA).

The caller convinced the senior citizen that he could help recover matured funds from an old insurance policy, but only if the victim first purchased new policies from private insurers. Over the next two years, another accused, posing as the director of the Integrated Grievance Management System (IGMS), contacted the victim repeatedly. Under the pretext of clearing various fabricated charges such as “Agent Code Removal Fees,” “FDR Fees,” and “State Level Tax,” the fraudsters induced the elderly man to transfer money multiple times.

In total, the victim made 32 separate transactions amounting to Rs 64 lakh from his own and his brother’s bank accounts. The scam took a more alarming turn when the accused persuaded him to open new bank accounts and courier the ATM cards to addresses in Indrapuram, Ghaziabad. The victim only realised he had been duped when he received a legal notice from the Yashwanthapur police station in Kerala, informing him that his accounts were being used for criminal activities.


The Navi Mumbai Cyber Police registered an FIR on April 20 under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for cheating and personation, along with provisions of the Information Technology Act. Police are now tracking several mobile numbers and an email ID linked to the suspects.

(With PTI inputs)