Help to bring back this smile on my Dad's face

Hi, my name is Sushmita. I initiated this fundraising to gather support for my elderly parents who have been ripped off their life savings by digital scammers.

My parents live in Kolkata, India. My father is in his early 70s now. He had always been a content man who found happiness in running a small printing business doing small jobs for schools, offices and colleges; save up to have his own house, been able to get his two daughters married, and having enough savings through traditional savings and investments to never have to ask for financial support from his daughters.

Until the dubious call that came to him on Nov 26, 2024 and went on everyday until Dec 4, 2024 that scammed him all of his life savings - precisely an amount of 83lakhs of rupees. My parents were put under digital arrest by scammers who posed themselves as CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) authorities and manipulated my father to transfer the very last penny that was available for withdrawal from the banks. He was hypnotized and made to believe the people scamming him in the most believable way. He broke MFs, FDs and other savings to transfer the amount to scammers.

The day he broke the news to my sister (on Dec 4, 2024) and the next day I came to know - we were crestfallen. In his own words: he was threatened for their lives (mom and dad), made to go through immense mental trauma, and a fake oath that he cannot disclose this incident with anyone or else his family would have to pay for his deeds.

My elder sister ran to the police station with my father at 2am in the night to lodge the FIR, and from that fateful night to today we have only been disappointed with every visit to the police station, cyber cell department, banks, court, lawyer and Kolkata police headquarter (Lalbazar). A 70-year old man is having to wait for hours in each of these overtly bureaucratic places sometimes for 6 or 7 hours - just to get a moment of conversation with the officers and understand the case status. Such was the stress, trauma and feeling of loss that he fell down on the streets in Jan 2025 and had to be hospitalized in a government hospital.

As of February 2025, the police authorities have given up on the case and asked us to give up hoping too, to get back anything. My father has not only lost his life savings, but also his self-respect, courage to face life and a total loss of confidence. He still feels profound shame for being so gullible to believe some strangers over the phone as he had no idea of such prevalent scams called 'digital arrest'.

When I tried to find a picture of my rarely photographed father I had to go back to this 2018 photo where I had taken my Dad on a trip - it was his first time on a flight! The man who took us - a family of four for trips twice a year to places in and around India when he was far younger; now doesn't have any money to fend the needs of himself and my mother. Life really changed for all of us from December 2024 and we are still reeling under it.

We sisters are trying to find some relief for my dear parents, especially for our Dad, through this GoFundMe fundraiser. I shall use your kind donations to get redirected to my father and mother in India. Help me bring back some financial stability for my parents, and a smile on their faces. They are helpless and age is clearly not on their side. Even if we are able to recover half of my parents lost funds, I shall be so grateful.

If you want further official documents please contact me on facebook ("Sushmita Sengupta" from Location: Kolkata) or gofundme account.