Youth held for duping man of Rs 47 k by posing as bank officer

A 20-year-old youth was arrested from West Bengal, days after he allegedly duped a local by fraudulently transferring Rs 47,500 from his account by posing as a bank official, police said today.
The accused, identified as Binod Mandal alias Manoj, is a native of Karon village in Deogarh district of Jharkhand.
Police have found a special team as Mandal has revealed that scores of people in his village are involved in tricking unsuspecting account holders utilising the same modus operandi.
According to the police, Mandal called up the victim, a car driver, over his phone on December 1 last year and introduced himself as manager of SBH Debit Cards Division and informed him that his card was being blocked for updating Aadhar details in the wake of demonetisation.

"He asked the victim to provide Aadhar card number, ATM card number, its date of expiry and CVV number and that he will send a confirmation code to his registered mobile number.
"Believing the fraudster to be a bank officer, the victim shared his debit card details and OTP with the accused after which the accused made several fraudulent transfers to various e-wallets and carried out online transactions," said Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat.

After the victim called up Mandal over deduction of amounts, the accused told him that due to upgradation of his debit card he received such messages and all money will be reverted to his bank account.

The victim realised that he was cheated to the tune of Rs 47,500 after he visited his bank, following which he lodged a complaint with Cyber Crime wing of Rachakonda Commissionerate, who registered a case.
During the probe, it was found the victim's card details and OTPs were misused by fraudsters for diverting money to various e-wallets.
Subsequently, they transferred such funds from e-wallets to various bank accounts or for mobile/DTH recharges, the senior police officer said.
"On contacting one of the end-users of such service, Mandal was identified and a police team lured him to Asansol railway station for making a bigger deal where he was apprehended on January 12 and brought to Hyderabad on transit remand," Bhagwat said.

He said Mandal has admitted to presence of hundreds of people in his village and surrounding areas, who make calls to bank account holders to obtain their card details and OTPs and transfer money to various accounts and e-wallets.
On revelations made by the accused, a special team has been dispatched to probe further, the Commissioner added.