Retd bank officer loses Rs 16 lakh to pension card scam

Rajkot: A 72-year-old retired bank officer was allegedly defrauded of Rs 15.99 lakh to cyberscammers who offered a pension card of Bank of Baroda.The victim Hasmukh Gantara, who retired from Dena Bank, lodged a complaint with the Cybercrime Police Station of Rajkot city against unknown bank account holders.In his complaint, Ganatra on Nov 6, while browsing Facebook, he came across a page named ‘Bank of Baroda' which offered an application form for a ‘Bank of Baroda Pension Retired Card.'Since Dena Bank had merged with Bank of Baroda, he clicked on the "apply" button on the page.About an hour later, he received a video call on WhatsApp in which only the Bank of Baroda logo was visible. The caller verified his bank account number, the mobile number linked to the account, and his residential address, and informed him that his card was being generated.Soon after, Ganatra found that his mobile phone got locked. He took the device to a service centre, where it was formatted.The following day, he discovered that Rs 15.99 lakh was swiped from the bank account in three transactions.