Bengaluru: Online fraudsters make woman open 8 bank accounts in 7 banks; uses them for fraud

Bengaluru: A 37-year-old woman was allegedly cheated by a group of online fraudsters, who managed to access her bank account credentials to dupe people.

The victim has been identified as Sai Meena KJ, a resident of Kadugodi, Bengaluru. It is said that Meena befriended a man named Benjamin on social media in November 2020, he posed as a doctor in the UK.

He requested Meena to open a bank account as one of his friends (Johnson) has started a business in India and will be soon visiting India to get some contracts. The accused was in touch with her through WhatsApp.

She opened eight accounts in her name since November 2020 in seven banks. However, on July 27, Meena filed an FIR at Whitefield CEN Crime police station.

In her complaint, she stated that the accused assured her that he would help her by giving her a few dollars in return. She had later sent the documents and credentials of her accounts and Rs 90,000 to an address given to her by the gang a few months ago. Meena also helped one woman to open a bank account in one of the banks.

A few months later, Meena received a call from Delhi airport claiming that Johnson has come to India and was caught at the airport for not having valid documents. He had claimed that he was a friend of Meena.

Meanwhile, Meena was shocked to receive information from cybercrime police saying that her accounts had been frozen as victims had transferred their money to the cyber crooks on those accounts.

It was only then she knew that realized that the gang was misusing her accounts. It is said that the gang used to withdraw money as soon as the victims of various cyber crimes transferred it to the accounts.