In a commendable act of vigilance, an employee at the State Bank of India (SBI) has successfully prevented a 78-year-old doctor from losing a staggering Rs 30 lakh to a fraudulent scam. The incident took place at SBI’s Lothkunta branch in Hyderabad, where the senior citizen had approached the bank to close his Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS) account and transfer the large sum to his savings account.
The bank staff, led by Branch Manager Naveen Kumar, became suspicious when they noticed the elderly man receiving persistent calls from individuals pressuring him to complete the transaction. When questioned, the man explained that the money was urgently needed for his wife’s treatment at a private hospital following a brain haemorrhage. However, further inquiries revealed that there was no record of a patient by that name at the hospital. Sensing something amiss, the bank staff immediately alerted their Regional Business Office and notified the police.
The elderly customer later confessed that he had been duped by a man claiming to be a Delhi Customs Officer, who told him that a parcel containing 16 passports and ATM cards had arrived from Malaysia in his name. The scam escalated when another person, pretending to be a senior officer from Delhi Crime Police, accused him of being involved in a massive Rs 88 crore money laundering case. The fraudster insisted that the doctor close his SCSS account and transfer the entire amount to avoid legal repercussions.
Thanks to the swift action of the SBI staff, the senior citizen was saved from losing his hard-earned money. The bank has urged customers to remain alert and report any suspicious activities immediately. Customers can reach out to the government’s dedicated cybercrime portal at www.cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930 to report digital frauds.
