Multiple Indian Elderly Victims Lose Crores in Coordinated Cyber Frauds

Several elderly individuals across India and the UK have fallen victim to sophisticated cyber and phone scams resulting in substantial financial losses. In Chandigarh, an 83-year-old woman was duped of over ₹6.13 lakh after sharing personal information with a caller impersonating a Punjab National Bank representative, which led to fraudulent withdrawals from multiple bank accounts. In Gujarat, a cyber fraud gang operated by Chinese nationals from Cambodia was uncovered; it involved mule accounts used to launder over ₹2.23 crore, with arrests made including one suspect who earned commissions on the fraud. An elderly couple in Varanasi was tricked into transferring Rs 81 lakh to fraudsters posing as central investigative agency officers, depleting their savings meant for critical medical treatment. Similarly, a septuagenarian in Hyderabad lost ₹53 lakh after being falsely threatened by a scammer impersonating a senior police officer, who used forged documents to convince the victim to transfer funds for verification. In the UK, a 76-year-old grandmother was defrauded of £67,000 in a romance scam by a Nigerian fraudster posing as an American oil rig worker, exploiting emotional vulnerability to extract money over time. These incidents highlight the growing prevalence and complexity of scams targeting the elderly, involving impersonation, emotional manipulation, and international criminal networks.