Hyderabad: A dramatic incident has emerged at the State Bank of India’s (SBI) Lothukunta branch in Hyderabad, where an 78-year-old doctor narrowly escaped being conned out of ₹30 lakh by digital scamsters.
An older people, whose wife also is a doctor, was in the branch to close the senior savings account and transfer the money into his savings account. Something rang alarm for Branch Manager Naveen Kumar when he could notice that the customer kept getting calls from fraudsters.
The customer claimed the funds were needed for the wife’s treatment at a private hospital following a brain hemorrhage. However, the suspicion grew in the bank official, and he alerted his Regional Business Office, who contacted the hospital and confirmed no patient by the name of the customer’s wife had been admitted.
Further investigation revealed that there were cases of impersonating a Delhi Customs Officer and one senior officer with the Delhi Crime Police. They reportedly stated that a parcel that contained 16 passports, ATM cards, and his name was received from Malaysia in the customer’s name wherein 30 bank accounts opened using his Aadhaar Card credentials had linked him up with an ₹88-crore money laundering scam.
Thanks to the prompt action by the branch staff, the older people did not fall a victim to the scam. The SBI asked customers to report digital frauds by calling 1930 or visiting the government portal www.cybercrime.gov.in.