Nagpur family loses Rs 50 lakh cash to AI voice-clone fraud; cyber police book unknown accused

Cyber police in Nagpur have registered a case after a city family was cheated of Rs 50 lakh in cash by a caller who allegedly used an artificial intelligence copy of a well-known person's voice. No arrest has been reported so far.

The complainant is Nitin Nirmal Nakhat, 42, a resident of Hiwri Layout. His father, Nirmal Kumar Nakhat, was at home on September 26, 2026, when a message and a call reached him on WhatsApp from a number he did not recognise. The display picture on that account showed Kanhaiyalal Patwari, a prominent and respected member of the Jain community.

The person on the line, it is alleged, spoke in a voice that sounded exactly like Patwari's. The complaint says the voice was produced with AI voice-cloning technology. With a familiar face on the screen and a familiar voice in his ear, Nirmal Kumar saw no reason to doubt who he was talking to, and the caller built his plan on that trust.

The caller said that an emergency had come up in Delhi and that he needed a large amount of money at once. He promised that the sum would be paid back as soon as he returned to Nagpur. To make the request look like a genuine transaction, he also sent the location of a place in Delhi over WhatsApp, and deleted that message a short while later.

Since the money was said to be needed immediately, Nirmal Kumar arranged for it to be delivered through an acquaintance based in Delhi. According to the complaint, Rs 50 lakh in cash was handed over in the Chandni Chowk area of the capital at about 5.05 pm on the same day, September 26. The man who took the cash is said to have given his name as "Ankit".

It was only after the handover that the family began to suspect that something was wrong. Once Nitin realised that the family had been cheated, he approached the police.

On the basis of his complaint, the cyber police have booked the person who contacted the family on WhatsApp, the man who collected the cash, and unidentified associates. The case has been registered under Sections 318(4), 319, 61(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act. These provisions cover cheating, misuse of someone else's identity and related offences. Sub-inspector Krishna Kamble is the investigating officer.

Officers are now collecting details of the mobile numbers and WhatsApp profiles that were used, the call records, the location that was sent and the person who picked up the cash. They are also trying to establish where the fraudsters obtained a sample of the voice and how the AI tool was used to imitate it. The part played by other members of the network and the final destination of the money are also being examined. For the moment, the focus of the probe is on identifying the accused, tracing their technical activity and recovering the cash. The police stress that all of this is still at the stage of allegation and inquiry.

Following the case, the police have urged residents not to part with money simply because they hear a familiar voice, whether it belongs to a friend, a relative or a person they hold in high regard. Cash should never be given to a stranger who turns up on someone's behalf. If a caller cites an emergency and wants a big amount quickly, the person receiving the call should first ring the individual back on the old number that is already saved and known to be genuine.

A video call can add some comfort, the police said, but what appears on screen should not be taken as final proof either, and the identity should be checked separately by another route. Before any large payment, people should talk to other members of the family and verify the request independently. They should avoid quick decisions where money is involved and inform the police promptly at the first sign of fraud.