Unidentified callers duped an elderly couple and took away money from their bank accounts on Saturday in Balurghat, South Dinajpur. The couple lodged an FIR with the local police station and accordingly, an investigation was started.
Sunil Kumar Ghosh (75), a retired government employee and his wife Saraswati (74), who is also a retired school teacher, lodged the complaint. After initiating the investigation, police learnt that the couple received a call from an unknown person who wanted to know their bank details.
"The person was claiming himself to be a bank employee who was working on an emergency basis to restore the internal network of the bank. The person politely requested the couple to inform him about their bank details. The unknown caller reportedly said that the accounts would be blocked shortly for a system failure and it was important to know the details," said a police officer.
Sunil and Saraswati disclosed the bank account details to that unidentified caller and a few hours later, Sunil received an SMS alert stating that a hefty sum was transferred from his bank account through online transaction. Shocked, the couple immediately reported the matter to the police.
It may be mentioned that such cases have been reported from several districts across the state. Most of these cases were reported from Kolkata and Salt Lake areas. A senior citizen in Salt Lake was duped by an unidentified caller last December.
The caller asked for his account details and took away Rs 1.5 lakh from his account within 20 minutes. The 72-year-old person received a call from a man posing as a Reserve Bank of India official. The caller asked for a verification of his ATM card.
Police investigation later revealed that some people outside Bengal were actually involved in these cases. They took the bank details from account holders and managed to siphon off money with the help of a few bank employees.
"This case is no exception than the previous cases that took place in Kolkata and Salt Lake. We have started an investigation," an officer of Balurghat Police said.