Elderly woman in Mysuru loses over Rs 31 lakh in government impersonation scam using AI deception

A 68-year-old woman from Mysuru fell victim to a sophisticated scam where fraudsters, posing as government officials and using AI-generated voices, duped her into transferring Rs 31.10 lakh, highlighting the growing threat of AI-facilitated cyber frauds.

A 68-year-old woman in Mysuru has reported losing Rs. 31.10 lakh after scammers allegedly posed as government officials and pressured her with a fabricated money-laundering case, police said. The complaint, filed with the city’s CEN police station, says the fraud began with a call on July 23 from a man who introduced himself as Rahul Kulkarni and claimed to be a government data officer.

The next day, another caller contacted her on WhatsApp video and identified himself as Sandeep Rao, a Mumbai police officer, according to the complaint. He allegedly told her that her name had surfaced in a money-laundering case and threatened legal action unless she complied with their instructions.

Police said the fraudsters then persuaded her to check details of her husband’s fixed deposits, cash them in and move the proceeds into her savings account before sending the money by RTGS to multiple accounts specified by them. They also allegedly warned her not to tell anyone and kept her in constant contact, a tactic that mirrors other government impersonation scams described by US authorities, including schemes using false law-enforcement identities and AI-generated voice messages to build trust.

Fearing the threat, the woman transferred Rs. 31,10,200 to the accounts provided by the callers. According to the complaint, she realised she had been deceived on August 2 after checking the documents they had sent and then contacted the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal helpline before filing a formal complaint. CEN police have registered a case.