Gujarat man conned after filing complaint on PMO website

A man from Gujarat who had filed a complaint on the website of Prime Minister's Office came in for a rude shock as money was stolen from his bank account by a person who claimed to be working at the "PMO Insurance Cell".

The CBI registered a case in the matter nearly 10 months after receiving a complaint in this regard from the PMO.

The CBI was informed by the Prime Minister's Office through a letter dated September 5, 2018, detailing the incident faced by Umeshchandra Tank, a resident of Jamnagar.

Tank had filed a complaint against New India Assurance on the grievance portal of Prime Minister's Office on June 15 last year.

After filing the complaint, he started receiving calls from a person claiming to be one Mathew from "PMO Insurance Cell", Tank alleged.

The person allegedly told Tank that in order to solve his problem, his bank account needs to be linked to the complaint for which he gave directions related to one time password (OTP) generation, the complaint said.

He took the card and using the OTP managed to transfer Rs 999 and Rs 18,000 over a period of three days from Tank's Bank of Baroda account, it said.

Sensing that he has been cheated, Tank again approached the PMO narrating his ordeal on the grievance portal.

The top office referred the matter to the CBI, saying, "Prima facie this is a case of impersonation wherein the name of PMO has been misused for committing financial fraud."