KOLKATA: A 49-year-old woman from Mandeville Gardens, who had been duped of Rs 4.9 lakh after a fraudulent online KYC update, got her money back on Monday after she had lodged a complaint with the Kolkata Police cyber crime cell on January 28.
The woman had alerted the police immediately after she realised the fraud on the same day. Cops returned the money to her in next 10 days.
The Gariahat police and the South East Division cyber cell, along with the officers of the cyber cell, blocked the payment gateways with the help of a private bank before the money got disbursed. This incident shows that the victims of the e-payment fraud can get their lost money back if they reach out to the cops on time.
“We have been asking the victims to not waste time the moment they realise that they have been duped. Multiple examples across divisional cyber cells since January have only helped us reiterate our advice,” said an officer from Gariahat police station.
“On January 28, the woman received a call and was asked to update the KYC details of her bank, for which she was given some instructions. The caller asked the victim to pay Rs 10 to update KYC details. The victim did accordingly and shared an OTP with the caller. After a few minutes, the woman realised that Rs 4.9 lakh was siphoned off her account. As she alerted cops about the fraud on time, the payment gateway, through which the money was transferred, could tracked and the money could be stopped from being transferred further,” said the officer.
