65-Year-Old Woman Scammed of ₹1.30 Crore in Elaborate Cyber Fraud
A 65-year-old woman loses ₹1.30 crore in a cyber scam involving fake officials from IMF,RBi
A 65-year-old woman lost ₹1.30 crore to scammers impersonating various official organizations in Mumbai
A 65-year-old woman from Mumbai fell victim to a well-planned cyber fraud, losing ₹1.30 crore to scammers posing as officials from multiple prestigious organizations, including the Customs Department, Reserve Bank of India, and International Monetary Fund . The woman, who lived in Chandivali until June 2024 before moving to Byculla, reported her ordeal to the police, revealing how it began in April 2023 when she met a man on an international dating app.
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The man, calling himself Paul Rutherford, claimed to be an American civil engineer working in the Philippines. Over time, he built a rapport with the woman and told her a tragic story about a fatal accident at his construction site, after which he said he needed money to avoid being deported to the United States. Persuaded by his story, the woman sent Rutherford approximately ₹70 lakh in Bitcoin between April and June 2023, even borrowing money from family members. Rutherford promised to repay her quickly.
In June, Rutherford escalated the fraud by telling the woman he had sent her a package containing 2 million US dollars. Shortly after, she received a call from someone identifying themselves as Priya Sharma from Delhi airport, claiming that the package was being held by Customs. Sharma demanded payments for customs charges and taxes, directing the woman to transfer money into various bank accounts.
Between June 2023 and March 2024, the woman complied with these demands, transferring significant sums of money. However, the scam did not stop there. Other individuals, pretending to be from Bank of America, the IMF, and the RBI, contacted the woman, demanding more money for the release of the funds and conversion into Indian currency, which they claimed was worth ₹17 crore. By the time she realized she had been defrauded, the woman had already lost ₹1.29 crore.
The victim approached the cyber police, and an FIR has been filed. The investigation is ongoing, but no leads have been discovered to trace the fraudsters.
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