Cyber crook posing as banker dupes Puri cop’s wife of over Rs 1 lakh

The wife of a police official in Puri became the latest victim of cyber fraud and lost over Rs 1 lakh.

Priyanka Kanungo, who hails from Penthakata of the pilgrim city, said the scamster called up her by posing as a bank official and stole Rs 1,01474 from her bank account on the pretext of helping her link her account with PAN card. 

“On July 13, I received a call from an unknown number wherein the caller revealed my name and bank account details. The caller claimed that he was from Bhubaneswar head office. When I confronted that such calls are never made from head office, the caller explained that it was made as I have not linked my PAN card with my bank account,” Kanungo said.

“As I got convinced by the claims of the caller, he asked me to provide my Aadhaar card details to complete the procedure. When I received an OTP on my cellphone and was tricked to share it with the caller. Soon after I shared the OTP, I was surprised to see Rs 1,01474 was deducted from my account,” she added. 

After learning that she was duped by the fraudster, the woman visited the nearest bank branch and took out mini statement of the transactions and subsequently lodged a complaint.  

Mihir Panda, additional SP, Puri, said an investigation has been launched into the case.