Mumbai man loses ₹1.4 crore to 18-month pig butchering scam via fake EPFO and CBI officials over phone calls and counterfeit cheque

Summary

A Mumbai man lost Rs 1.4 crore after falling for an 18-month scam involving fake officials posing as representatives of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The scam began in May 2023 when the victim received a call from a man claiming to be Alok Mehta of the EPFO, who convinced him to pay Rs 7,230 to claim his provident fund dues. Over the next ten months, the victim was persuaded to transfer Rs 60 lakh under various false pretexts by Mehta and two others, Sunita Tiwari and Chakraborty. In March 2024, a woman claiming to be Mahi Sharma of the CBI’s Mumbai office contacted the victim, falsely claiming Mehta had been arrested and that his file was under CBI scrutiny. Sharma sent a counterfeit cheque and convinced the victim to pay additional fees until November 2024. The victim realized he had been scammed when he tried to encash the cheque and found it to be fake. The West Cyber Police registered an FIR on May 28 and are investigating the case, including tracing the bank accounts used for the fraudulent payments.