Elderly Man Loses Life Savings Moments After Verifying KYC Data, Bank Fraud Warning Issued

What if you get a call from your local bank branch to confirm your KYC (Know your customer) information but after a while you lose all your savings in your bank? Yes, this is exactly what happened to an 83-year-old retired government employee from Kolkata, West Bengal.

This is of course a popular hoax and the said person S.P. Sinha lost Rs 2.5 lakh in savings to fraudsters posing as bank employees.

As reported by Metro, the man used to visit his bank branch for all his business needs but one day he got a call from his bank and to earn trust they went into detail informing Sinha that he was calling from desk number 3 of the bank where the victim’s pension account was.

Now, fortunately, Sinha had previously visited desk number 3 at work and thus was convinced of the authenticity of the caller and wanted to properly check his KYC information. As a result, the man ended up following the scammers’ instructions.

“On November 11, I received a phone call in the afternoon. The man said he was calling from the bank (retirement account), Sinha said.

He further added, “He also mentioned my account number. When I said the bank was closed that day, he said only the ‘verification’ section was open and that I needed to update my KYC.”

Later, not being tech-friendly, Sinha handed over the device to his 11-year-old grandson and moments later he realized that his account had been debited for Rs 2,57,650. Moreover, he also lost access to his FDs and other investments.

This incident is a clear indication of negligence. It is important to note that banks do not conduct transactions over phone calls. If you want to update your KYC details, visit your bank’s official website or seek help from a branch. As a general rule, always reject suspicious requests that arrive via phone calls or messages.