People in Dehradun as well as from other parts of Uttarakhand continue to receive phone calls from fraudsters who while being based in States like Jharkhand and Bihar call them up while posing themselves as branch managers or employees of banks. One of those at the receiving end of such dubious calls on Thursday itself said that he had received such a call from the number 8877969545in the morning and the caller had told him that his ATM had been blocked. “He while posing himself as a State Bank of India officer asked me to give him the Aadhaar card number and 16 -digit bank account number to have the ATM reactivated. I hung up the phone immediately as I knew about such fraudsters,” he said.
However, an elderly person aged around 65 years was not that lucky. As per the complaint lodged with the cyber crime police station (CCPS) on Wednesday, Rs 20000 had been spirited away from his account after he had been entrapped by the con men using the same modus operendi of scaring the bank account holders of the ATM being locked and asking for the bank details to unlock it. A report has been registered at CCPS and the officials have started investigation.
Inspector Sah said that the number of such fake calls is on the rise in the State. “ In most of such cases, we find that gangs are operating from either Bihar or Jharkhand. As per the investigation of the complaints received, the fraudsters dupe those entrapped through illegal bank transactions through online shopping, mobile recharging , money transferring and other means.”
In view of the common people in Dehradun as elsewhere in the state remaining scared with net banking transactions- related crimes showing a spurt, the state additional director general of police (law and order) Ashok Kumar cautioned the people against responding to unwanted phone calls. “Make no mistake that the bank officials do not ask for ATM passwords. They must not disclose any such information related to bank account details, ATM card, Credit Card and password over phone under any circumstances. They should visit their banks instead,” he added.
He further advised the people to change their debit card and credit card passwords from time to time to remain a bit safe.
“Besides, they should under no circumstances seek help from strangers while drawing money from ATMs,” he cautioned. Kumar appealed to the people to register their complaints at the local police stations or Bank Fraud Complaint Cells soon after they discover illegal bank transaction. The numbers given by police for lodging complaints are 100, 9456591502 and 0135-2655900.
from responding to such calls,” said a senior cyber crime police station officer.