Ahmedabad: An 80-year-old retired govt servant from Paldi lost Rs 17 lakh — his life savings, accumulated over 38 years — within 30 seconds of unwittingly sharing his banking details with fraudsters posing as bank officials. A former employee of the state irrigation department, he lives alone in Paldi’s Narayannagar area. He told cybercrime police on Monday that scammers targeted him through a fake Facebook page that looked like the Bank of India’s official page. On Nov 24, 2025, he saw a post claiming pensioners could submit life certificates online without visiting a branch. Trusting it, he clicked “Get in touch” and entered his mobile number. Soon after, he received a call from a man claiming to be from the bank. The caller said he could assist him in submitting his life certificate online.During the conversation, the complainant was asked to share his customer ID, debit card number and PIN. Trusting the caller, he disclosed the details.
He later received multiple WhatsApp video calls from another number whose profile picture was the bank’s logo. The caller continued the conversation for over an hour, assuring him that his life certificate would be updated within 24 to 48 hours.However, by evening, the complainant began receiving SMS alerts regarding multiple fund transfers from his savings account. Before he could react, Rs 17,03,600 was siphoned off through a series of transactions into different bank accounts. The complainant immediately contacted the bank’s customer care and later informed the branch manager. He also registered a complaint on 1930, the cybercrime helpline, and filed a formal complaint. Police said the fraudsters accessed his account using the details shared and transferred the funds within seconds. An investigation is underway to trace the beneficiary accounts and the IP addresses linked to the fake Facebook page.
