A 53-year-old woman became the victim of a search engine listing fraud, when she went online in search of her bank's customer care number. The fraudster, on the pretext of helping her, duped her to the tune of Rs 9 lakhs.
According to the police, the victim, on July 10, had given a cheque of Rs 5 lakh to the owner of a flat that she was interested in purchasing. The money was the token amount.
Four days later, she received a message from her bank, informing that Rs 5.33 has been deducted from her account. To find out how the money was withdrawn, she tried calling on her bank's number, but she could not get connected. After repeated attempts, she finally went online and searched for the bank's customer care number.
When she called on the number she found online, the person introduced himself as Sunil Kumar, her bank's representative. After hearing her problem, Kumar asked for her bank details and mobile number registered with the account. He assured her that the money will be debited to her account by night.
On July 16, she received a check clearance message of the amount that she gave to the flat owner. Thinking that her account might not have enough cash, she approached the bank and was shocked to find her account balance, which was Rs 76 only.
When she inquired with the bank official, they told her that she had been duped by an online fraudster and the first Rs 5 lakh, which was withdrawn, was actually transferred to a fixed deposit. However, the fraudster made away with that money as well.
The woman then approached Bhoiwada Police station and registered a complaint of online cheating. We have registered the offence. However, no arrest has been made so far, said an official.
source https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/search-for-banks-customer-care-number-costs-woman-rs-9-lakhs
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