Shillong, September 16, 2014: Meghalaya police today reiterated their appeal to citizens not to fall prey to conmen who seek their ATM card details through phone calls.
“In spite of repeated warnings to public not to divulge their ATM details to any person calling on their mobile phone, a number of civilians are falling prey to it and losing their money through online shopping,” East Khasi Hills superintendent of police M. Kharkrang said.
This month alone, the police have registered several cases after people were duped by those who claimed to be bank employees.
On September 12, Bhupendra Kumar Nath lodged a complaint at Laitumkhrah police station saying he received a phone call in which the caller identified himself as an employee of a bank in Mumbai, police said.
The caller had allegedly asked for the details of Nath’s ATM card and the same was passed on to him “in good faith”, police said. Later, the complainant found that Rs 45,499 had been withdrawn from his SBI account.
On September 6, Juliana N. Sangma lodged a complaint at the Shillong Sadar police station alleging she had received a phone call from an unidentified person who asked about her ATM card details which the complainant provided, police said.
The following day, Rs 1,39,000 was surreptitiously withdrawn from her account.
In another incident, Dibakar Sen lodged a complaint at Rynjah police station yesterday that he received a phone call from an unidentified person claiming to be an SBI official. The caller allegedly asked about his ATM card details which the complainant provided. Later, Sen received an alert message that Rs 76,980 had been withdrawn from his account.
“Such disguised callers belong to some organised gangs who are trying to lure people by pretending to be SBI employees,” Kharkrang said.
He also urged the people to strictly practise the safety and security features of ATM card usage circulated and displayed by the banks regularly.
“The bank account holders should also register their mobile number (with the banks) to get SMS alerts. If any transaction is done on their ATM card illegally, they should bring it immediately to the notice of the concerned bank and police,” Kharkrang said.
Source: The Telegraph
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