Overview
- The scheme ran from December 24 to around January 9–10, with callers posing as TRAI and law-enforcement officials who kept the couple on continuous phone and video calls.
- The victims were coerced into eight large RTGS transfers to multiple bank accounts, with scripts provided to deflect bank scrutiny and assurances of later RBI refunds.
- India Today reports the fraud surfaced when the callers sent the victim to a police station on a false refund pretext, where officers confirmed a loss of Rs 14.85 crore.
- Police say the couple, both doctors with children abroad, were isolated and threatened with arrest under money-laundering claims framed as a national-security matter.
- Authorities note similar recent complaints, including a Chandigarh case where a 60-year-old lost Rs 38 lakh, with zero FIRs and cybercrime units tracing the funds.