NAROWAL: A retired traffic police officer from Narowal is the latest to fall prey to a gang of telephone banking fraudsters who have been involved in a series of similar events across Punjab.
Aslam Mukhtar, a retired traffic cop, lost Rs0.3 million – his entire life’s savings – after sharing his bank details on a phone call from an alleged bank’s helpline. Soon afterwards, the money disappeared from his account.
“I had saved the money for my daughters’ weddings,” Mukhtar lamented, adding that he has reported the fraud to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
The bank has also reportedly notified its head office about the latest incident of online fraud.
A number of unsuspecting citizens have become prey to fraudsters looking to extract sensitive information from them in a string of similar incidents in recent months.
Dr Yousuf Khilji, a retired scientist last month lost his savings worth Rs2.7 million from his bank account in suspected fraud transactions. After the FIA sent a notice to the concerned bank, he was, however, returned the money.
Authorities have advised citizens not to share any sensitive information, such as bank card and account details with anyone claiming to be from the bank over the phone.
