Senior citizen in Ahmedabad loses ₹47 lakh in cyber fraud impersonating NPCI officials

A 73-year-old retired woman from Ahmedabad has alleged that she was duped of more than ₹47 lakh by a group of cyber fraudsters who impersonated officials of the National Payments Corporation of India, police said on Tuesday.

The complaint was registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station after the woman realised she had been defrauded over a period of nearly three years.

As per the FIR, Pushpaben Rajendrabhai Patdiwala of Ghatlodia in Ahmedabad, first received a phone call on April 28, 2022, from a person identifying himself as Jitendra Goswami, who claimed to be a senior officer of NPCI. The caller told her that ₹10 lakh from a policy related to the Life Insurance Corporation of India had been deposited with a government department in her name and that the amount could be released after completing certain formalities.

Police said the caller later connected the woman with other individuals who allegedly posed as officials and advocates linked to NPCI. These included persons claiming to be Praveenaben, an officer from NPCI in Mumbai, Ladura Munda, who introduced himself as a senior officer and advocate, and Ashok Singhal, who claimed to be an IT officer based in Delhi.

The accused allegedly convinced the complainant that various taxes, stamp duties and legal fees needed to be paid to release the supposed funds. Trusting the claims, the woman transferred money through bank transactions between May and December 2022 to accounts provided by the suspects.

During the course of the alleged fraud, the accused also asked the woman to open new bank accounts in her name with ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, obtain a new SIM card and courier the account kits, including passbooks, ATM cards and the SIM card, to an address in Delhi.

Investigators said the accused allegedly used these accounts to deposit and withdraw funds fraudulently and may also have routed money obtained from other s through the complainant’s accounts.

In 2025, another person posing as an NPCI fund transfer officer allegedly contacted the woman and claimed that ₹1.48 crore had accumulated in her name with NPCI and could be transferred after payment of additional tax. Believing the claim, she reportedly raised money by pledging her jewellery and transferring further sums.

The fraud continued until early 2026, when yet another caller, claiming to be a senior finance manager of NPCI, sent photographs of a purported identity card and Aadhaar card to convince her to pay an additional ₹1.12 lakh as tax to release the funds.

Suspecting foul play, the woman eventually contacted the national cybercrime helpline 1930 on March 7, and subsequently approached the police.

According to the complaint, the accused allegedly cheated her of a total of ₹47.35 lakh through multiple transactions and false promises of releasing funds purportedly deposited in her name.

Police have registered a case of cheating, criminal breach of trust and cyber fraud against unidentified persons. Officials said they are examining bank transactions, mobile numbers used in the scam and courier records as part of the ongoing investigation.