A month before Durga Puja, scamsters in West Bengal target buyers’ credit cards

KOLKATA: Cyber cells across the city have begun receiving complaints of credit card-related frauds where fraudsters are promising to increase credit card limit of the victim or issue a new zero-fee credit card as part of Durga Puja “packages and offers” by banks.

The accused are mostly targeting women staying in areas like New Alipore, Netaji Nagar and Ballygunge in south Kolkata.

Recently, a woman staying in New Alipore complained that she had received a call from the fraudsters who offered her an extention on the limit of her private bank credit card.

“She was asked to share her Aadhaar card number which she refused. However, the accused kept talking to her. He persuaded the woman to share some other details related to her card. After the woman finally obliged, she ended up losing Rs 68,000,” said an oficer.

“The moment we received the complaint, the cybercrime team of south division was roped in. We traced the account to which this money travelled and could successfully stop the transaction. Within a couple of days after the victim lost her money, we ensured that she got back the entire amount back in her account. We remained vigilant to ensure that no further transactions took place in the account,” said an investigating officer.

In the second incident, a woman from the Garia-Patuli area lost Rs 25,000 after she got a random call from the private bank credit card unit. The caller then sent her a new credit card that she never approved and wished to return. “The woman took the online route to try and return the credit card but lost money in the process,” said an officer.

In the third incident, a 52-year-old widow residing in Shyampukur area in north Kolkata with her daughter and parents, ended up losing Rs 1.5 lakh while trying to cancel a credit card issued in her name by a private bank. As per the norms, the bank has now asked her to pay for the transactions using her card even if she is free to approach the police and contest the claims. In both cases, recoveries are yet to be made.

Both city and state police have warned netizens to be careful about investing in unverified sites and sharing banking details on fake websites. Cops havea asked people not to trust the internet alone as website lookalikes exist by the dozen.

“Since your hard-earned money is involved, always cross check the websites and wallets where you are transferring your money. Do not trust random callers,” said a cyber cell officer at Lalbazar.