Surat: A 71-year-old retired woman from Surat was cheated of Rs 57.71 lakh in a long-running cyber fraud, where the accused posed as officials from the Income Tax Department and Reserve Bank of India and lured her with promises of massive financial returns, including a Rs 12 lakh rebate and a Rs 1 crore benefit.The fraud began in Sept 2022, when the victim received a call from a woman identifying herself as Dipika Sharma, allegedly a senior officer with the Income Tax Department, part of the Indian Governmental Money Scheme (Contemporary Complaint Management System Division, Delhi). Sharma claimed the victim was eligible for a Rs 12 lakh rebate on past income tax payments, provided she first deposited Rs 30,254 as processing fees. The victim complied and was given a file number and approval ID.In the following weeks, Sharma further claimed the victim was eligible for Rs 1 crore from the RBI as a retired govt servant, but she needed to pay Rs 3.7 lakh in multiple installments to process the claim. Believing the narrative, the victim continued to transfer money across multiple bank accounts as demanded by the accused.Between Feb 2023 and July 2024, the victim paid Rs 26 lakh, supposedly towards 18% GST on the Rs 1 crore claim. In Aug 2024, she transferred Rs 6.46 lakh as transaction charges. Later, she was asked to pay another Rs 15 lakh as NOC charges. Each time she questioned the lack of any credited funds, Sharma promised to visit Surat with a cheque and help her deposit the funds.The final payment was made on April 19, 2025, when the victim transferred Rs 1.5 lakh as an Income Tax Registration Fee. When the demands didn’t stop and no money was received, the woman realized she had been duped.She then approached the 1930 cyber fraud helpline and lodged a complaint. Following this, the Surat Cybercrime Police registered an FIR on June 28 under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act.
