Former India cricket Vinod Kambli’s fall from grace has been sensational. A cricketer who was once an icon for youngsters in the 1990s, is frail and weak at the age of 52 years as seen in a viral video with childhood friend Sachin Tendulkar.
According to media reports, Kambli has lost most of his wealth – which was reportedly near Rs 12 to 13 crore till a few years back. Kambli’s second marriage to former model Andrea Hewitt has fallen apart and most of his wealth has been spent as the former Mumbai southpaw has been without a job for a while now due to alcohol addiction.
A few years back, Kambli had also fallen victim to cyber fraud and lost more than a lakh of rupees. A fraudster, pretending to be an executive from a private bank, deceived Kambli into sharing sensitive information under the pretext of updating his ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) details, resulting in the fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 1.14 lakh from his bank account.
The incident had come to light on December 3, 2021, when Kambli filed a complaint with the Bandra police. Acting swiftly, the police’s cybercrime team, in collaboration with the bank, successfully reversed the transaction.
Vinod Kambli spotted in an unrecognizable state, leaving fans shocked#vinodkambli #Cricket #news #Sports pic.twitter.com/gQuCHVpQh3
— Oneindia News (@Oneindia) December 3, 2024
According to Kambli’s complaint, he received a call from someone claiming to represent his bank. The caller warned that his card would be deactivated unless he updated his KYC details. Trusting the caller, Kambli followed their instructions and downloaded the ‘AnyDesk’ application, which allowed the fraudster to gain remote access to his device. During the call, multiple unauthorized transactions were made, leading to the debit of Rs 1.14 lakh.
Realizing he had been duped, Kambli contacted his chartered accountant, bank officials and the police immediately. Upon identifying the recipient account of the transferred money, the cyber police promptly coordinated with the bank to reverse the fraudulent transaction.
A police officer involved in the investigation had told India Today website, “We are obtaining call detail records and the recipient bank account’s information to track down the fraudster.”
Since then, Kambli’s wealth has been mostly eroded and he is reportedly surviving only with a pension of about Rs 30,000 per month from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Kambli was recently seen at a public event after a long time with his schoolmate Sachin Tendulkar during a function on the birth anniversary of their legendary coach Ramakant Achrekar.
