BENGALURU: An 86-year-old man filed a complaint against five persons, including two women, for cheating him of Rs 94,000 after assuring him that he had been sanctioned Rs 3.5 lakh under a ‘senior citizen benefit scheme’ and that the same would be transferred to his bank account.
Ramesh (name changed), a resident of Vijayanagar, told police that a woman, who identified herself as Sonia Singh, called him in November 2020, saying he had been awarded Rs 3.5 lakh under the senior citizen benefit scheme and he should get the money transferred to his account quickly, else it would go back to the government. He agreed to take the money. A few days later, another woman, Anamika Sharma, called Ramesh and took details of his bank account. However, the suspects did not call Ramesh until March this year. In March first week, the suspects contacted Ramesh, saying he will get the money in a week’s time.
“First, they asked me to deposit Rs 20,999 towards service charges. I transferred the said amount to a bank in Mumbai on March 10. Then, two persons identified as Abhishek Sharma and Malhotra, called me on March 23 saying my money (Rs 3.5 lakh) had been approved and gave the approval number (AR0079432P). As no money was transferred, I tried to call them, but their phones were busy,” said Ramesh. Ramesh managed to get across to Anamika, who told him the money would be transferred soon.
“On May 27, a person who identified himself as Sudeep Tyagi called me saying I was selected for another benefit scheme and this time, I would get Rs 6.2 lakh. Tyagi asked me to deposit Rs 73,000 towards service charges; I transferred the same amount to a bank account given by Tyagi himself. On July 1, a person identifying himself as Malhotra called me, asking me to deposit another Rs 50,000 as clearance charges. Suspecting foul play, I told Malhotra that I wasn’t in need of Rs 6.2 lakh and requested him to return the money I had transferred to them. He immediately disconnected the call,” Ramesh’s complaint copy read.
Police said they collected details of the bank accounts and found them to be defunct.
