In another case of cyber fraud, a retired teacher of Indore was cheated by scammers as officials of SBI Life Insurance. The victim fell into a detailed scam, which came to light in two years as the scammers manipulated the money under the guise of policy-related processes and future benefits.

According to the case reported by the Times of India, the victim, who is a retired teacher, has an account with SBI Bank and first bought two legitimate insurance policies from SBI Life Insurance. In 2023, he received a call from an unknown person, who introduced himself as Rajiv Sharma. The caller claimed that he was an SBI officer and wanted to help him with his policies.

The scammers informed him further that he was eligible for the “surrender amount” on his policies and asked him to pay the premium to take advantage of the profit. Relying on the caller, seeing that he was not only presented as a bank officer, but also said that he knows about his insurance policies, the victim followed his instructions and started In the form of processing fee in the processing fee, Rs 1 lakh was transferred.

In the next two years, the scammers continued to manipulate him repeatedly, assuring him to pay additional under various pretex. He claimed that money was necessary for policy-related processes, taxes and future benefits. The victim, assuming that she was working with legitimate representatives, did a total of 34 online transactions, which was a shock of Rs 96 lakh.

This was not till January 2025, when the fraudsters suddenly cut all communication with him, that he realized that he was cheated. After his receipt, he approached the Indore Crime Branch and filed a complaint with the National Cyber ​​Crime Helpline (1930). Following his complaint, the authorities are frozen on the scam bank accounts and have initiated a detailed investigation to find out the culprits.

How to be safe

This incident is still another example of how scammers are exploiting the names of big organizations such as SBI and policies, about which people often receive calls. Such scams often target the elderly. To be safe from such scams, here are some security tips:

• If you receive a call from someone claiming to be a bank officer, for money transfer, always cross-check credentials. Instead of relying on the collar information, contact the company directly using the official contact details from your website or documents.
• Be vigilant with unwanted calls or messages providing financial benefits, especially if they require an upfront payment or personal information. Valid companies rarely ask for sensitive details on the phone.
• Most importantly, ever share personal or financial information, such as bank account details, OTP, or passwords, unknown individuals or rejected platforms.
• If you get information about policy benefits or surrender amount, verify the details directly with your insurance provider. Do not fully rely on the information provided by the collar.