Nashik: A Facebook friend request shattered the peaceful retirement life of a senior citizen. A young woman posing as ‘Anjali Agarwal ’, claiming to be the CEO of a major company in West Bengal, orchestrated a cyber honey trap. A total of ₹37,91,364 was swindled from three individuals, including the retired man, in this scam.
In July 2025, a retired resident of Gorewadi, Nashik Road, received a Facebook friend request from an account named ‘Anjali Agarwal’. After accepting the request, a conversation ensued. She claimed to be the CEO of a West Bengal-based company. The conversation later shifted to WhatsApp. She sent fake screenshots claiming that the ‘number trading’ business yielded huge profits. Acting on her instructions, the retired man entered his bank account, PAN card, and Aadhaar card details via a provided link.
Between August and December 2025, he transferred ₹27,56,164 from two bank accounts to the suspect's account through more than 60 financial transactions. He filed a complaint after realising he had been defrauded.
The fraudsters displayed a profit of ₹4.5 crore on the website. They demanded additional fees to withdraw the funds. The retired individual requested that the fees be deducted from the profits; however, the accused insisted that the funds would not be released unless the full amount was paid upfront.
A case has been registered at the Nashik City Cyber Police Station under Sections 318(4) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 and Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Action is underway regarding the bank account where the defrauded funds were transferred and the WhatsApp number involved. Senior Police Inspector Sanjay Pise is investigating the matter.
The Cyber Police have warned citizens to exercise caution when befriending strangers on social media. They have advised against sharing links while conducting financial transactions and urged people to immediately report any such fraud to the Cyber Police.
