Mumbai: Retired bank manager loses Rs 12 lakh to cons

A letter containing a scratch card from a well-known online shopping company was sent to the branch from where the woman had retired last year. Representation pic

The retired manager of a nationalised bank was recently cheated of Rs 12.5 lakh after falling for the lure that she had won a lottery worth Rs 7.5 lakh. The Malad police are hunting for those who duped the 60-year-old. An FIR case was registered at Malad police station on Friday under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and IT Act. The police said the fraudsters gained the victim's trust by sending images of even the Aadhaar and PAN cards allegedly belonging to one of them.

As per the statement of the victim, who retired last year, a letter had arrived in her name to the Navsari bank branch where she worked. The letter contained a scratch card from a well-known online shopping company and after scratching it, the Malad resident found that she had won a lottery of Rs 7.5 lakh on the occasion of their 12th anniversary. An officer from the Malad police station said that the woman contacted a mobile number mentioned in the letter.

She told the police that the person who received her call informed her that one of his associates would call her. The next day, on July 2, she got a call from a person who identified himself as Nitin Kumar Singh, and claimed he was calling on behalf of the shopping company. He demanded Rs 8,250 as service tax, GST, which the complainant immediately refused to pay.

Convincing gesture

But later, the police said, he sent a copy of his Aadhaar and PAN cards on WhatsApp and she believed him and sent him the amount. "Later on the pretext of paying income tax, processing fees and other charges, the fraudsters managed to convince her to transfer the sum of Rs 12.5 lakh," said an officer. When the complainant did not receive any lottery amount and could not reach the accused on his mobile phone and Whatsapp, she realized that she had been duped, said another officer

The retired bank manager then approached Malad police station in August and submitted a complaint. "We have registered a case under Sections 406, 419, 420 of IPC and Sections 66(c) and 66( D) of the IT Act. We are trying to trace the accused through his call data record and bank account details which he gave the woman to deposit the amount," said Senior Inspector D Ligade of Malad police station.