Mumbai school teacher duped of Rs 1.57 lakh on pretext of opening Demat account

17.04.2018
A Demat Account allows investors to hold their shares in an electronic form.

A Mumbai-based teacher who was trying to open a Demat account has been duped of Rs 1.57 lakh by a fraudster. A case in the matter has been registered in a police station in Dadar and the investigation is on.

Sheetal Ketan Thakkar, 44, who teaches at a school for hearing and speech impaired in Dadar filed a police complaint on Friday last week, as per a report by Hindustan Times.

Thakkar, in March, desiring to open a Demat account searched for the number of a nationalised bank website on the Internet. After obtaining the number she called the customer care executive.

“On the pretext of helping her open the account, the executive asked her to share her 16-digit debit card number and later the three-digit CVV. When the woman received an OTP on her phone, a fraudster asked her to share it with him,” said a police officer, requesting anonymity.

When Thakkar informed the ‘executive’ that the money has been debited, she was assured that once she gets a PIN for her Demat account the money will be credited back to her account.

The fraudster then enquired if Thakkar owned any other credit or debit cards, to which she informed that she had two more credit cards. The fraudster eventually retrieved all the details from her. When she again said that the money has been debited, he assured her that this was all part of the procedure and the money would be transferred back.

“The next day she called the same number, but found it to be switched off,” said the officer.

Five days later, when Thakkar paid a visit to the bank, to her horror, she was informed that such a number doesn’t exist.

“We suspect the fraudsters made a fake website to cheat people who keep searching for assistance on the internet,” added the official.

A case under section 419 (punishment for cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code and section 66 (C) and (D) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 has been filed by the police.A police officer said that the number has been traced to Jharkhand and further investigation is on.