Bengaluru Engineer Defrauded Of ₹32 Crore In CBI Impersonation Scam

A 57-year-old software engineer from Bengaluru has been defrauded of approximately ₹31.83 crore in a sophisticated phone- and video-based scam, after scammers posing as officials of the Central Bureau

of Investigation (CBI) kept her under online surveillance and coerced her into making 187 separate bank transfers.

The scheme began in September 2024 when the victim received a call from someone claiming to be a DHL executive who told her that a parcel addressed to her contained multiple passports, credit cards, and MDMA—a prohibited drug. The caller then transferred her to an impersonator claiming to be a CBI officer, who informed her that she was under investigation and warned that national-level criminals were monitoring her.

Under instructions from the fraudsters, the woman installed video-call apps (Skype) and was kept on live video for long stretches. The impersonators tracked her movements, monitored her actions several days at a time, and repeatedly told her she had to pay a “surety amount” and various “taxes” to clear the case.

Between late September and November 2024, the victim liquidated her savings—including fixed deposits—and transferred nearly ₹32 crore across 187 transactions. She was assured the money would be returned by February 2025, ahead of her son’s engagement in December. When demands for additional “processing charges” followed and promised refunds never materialised, she realised she had been duped.

Overwhelmed by constant surveillance and the fear for her family’s safety, the victim required medical treatment and only filed a police complaint after her son’s wedding in June this year. Now, investigators in Bengaluru have registered a case and launched a probe into the sprawling racket.