NRI woman conned by cyber crook

The Agripada police are on the lookout for an unknown person who allegedly duped an NRI woman to the tune of Rs4.97 lakh by procuring her net-banking details and siphoning money from her account, pretending to be a bank official. The money siphoned was used to book air tickets online and do shopping, police said.

According to the police, the woman (name withheld), a teacher and Agripada resident, had received a phone call on July 5 from an unknown number. The caller claimed to be a bank official and told the victim that she hadn't been operating her bank account regularly and that the bank was contemplating closing her account if she didn't want to operate it.

"The woman said she would not want to get her account deactivated, after which the caller asked for her net-banking details for verification. The unsuspecting woman then gave her net-banking details to the caller, believing him to be a bank official. After the phone call, the woman received an alert from the bank, informing her of a transfer of Rs4.97 lakh from her account," said an officer from Agripada police station.

The officer added that the victim then got in touch with the bank and informed them that she had not made any transaction. "She then lodged a police complaint. Our investigation revealed that online shopping was done through her account to buy air tickets and a few other valuables. We are in the process of cancelling the transactions, so that the money is recovered," said the officer.

The police have registered a case of cheating under relevant sections of the IPC and Information Technology Act, against the unknown person.