Cuttack: A retired employee was cheated of Rs 60,000 after a stranger swapped his ATM card with another card on the pretext of helping him withdraw cash. Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra, a resident of Saantasahi area in the city, lodged a complaint in this regard with Badambadi police Saturday.
Mohapatra said he had gone to a SBI ATM kiosk in Brajakabati area Friday. As he did not have proper understanding of ATM use, a man standing next to him in the queue offered to help him. In the process, the latter swapped his ATM card with another card. Later, Mohapatra returned home after the man told him that there was no balance his bank account.
However, Mahapatra was shocked when he received text messages on his mobile Saturday that a sum of Rs 40,000 was withdrawn from his account in two transactions, while another Rs 20,000 was transferred to a different account. Later, Mohapatra checked his ATM card thoroughly and found that it was not his card. The ATM card did not have any name written on it.
The police have registered a case in this connection and launched a probe.Notably, though this is the fifth incident of ATM swap fraud in the city in the past three months, the police have failed to bust the gang so far.
PNN
