In a shocking case of digital fraud, a 90-year-old stock market trader in Surat, Gujarat, lost his entire life savings of over Rs1 crore to scammers posing as officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The conmen accused the elderly man of being involved in a drug trafficking and money laundering operation, as reported by NDTV.
The fraudsters, believed to be part of an international gang with links to China, initiated the scam by contacting the victim through a WhatsApp call. They falsely claimed that a parcel addressed to him from Mumbai had been intercepted, containing 400 grams of MD drugs. To further deceive the man, they presented themselves as CBI officers investigating the alleged crime.
During the scam, the criminals managed to gain access to sensitive information and siphoned off Rs1.15 crore from the victim’s bank accounts. His family eventually became aware of the fraud on October 29 and promptly reported it to the Surat Cyber Cell.
Authorities have since arrested five individuals in connection with the scam: Ramesh Surana, Umesh Jinjala, Naresh Surana, Rajesh Deora, and Gaurang Rakholiya. The investigation revealed that the gang used 46 debit cards, 23 cheque books, nine mobile phones, 28 SIM cards, and rubber stamps from multiple firms to facilitate their operation. However, the alleged mastermind, Parth Gopani, is still at large and is believed to be in Cambodia. Authorities have released a sketch of Gopani in an attempt to track him down.