Cybercriminals target senior citizens to fleece money

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

SILCHAR: In a major turn of events during the last three days in this town, cybercriminals have been active to hack the bank accounts of senior citizens to fleece money, adopting subtle technology. Prof Dilip Kumar Dey, general secretary, Pro-Active Senior Citizens' Forum, an NGO working for the interest of senior denizens, in a letter addressed to the top officials of the State Bank of India and the Prime Minister of India as well as the Chief Minister of Assam, has impressed on them to investigate the matter with the help of cyber experts and police at the local and national levels to nab the criminals and unearth the illegally transferred money. The senior citizens of Barak Valley are worried about the protection of their deposits with banks, particularly SBI.

The Forum thinks senior citizens of Assam, in general, have become easy victims of cybercriminals who siphon off their money by electronic transfer from savings accounts, term deposits, FDs. This is an offshoot of electronic transfer scheme/campaign when large banking institutions like SBI and PNB as well as other banks are yet to evolve any scientific device or mechanism to protect the customers' money from hackers. The banks in question are unable to detect and recover the looted money from cybercriminals. Officials when confronted with questions give the impression as if this fraud has become a routine affair.

New Silchar Branch of SBI, Cachar, the Forum says, has been a witness to many such illegal transactions. Even retired offices of the bank could not escape from the grip of criminals and lost their hard-earned money. How could the cybercriminals transfer over Rs 16 lakh from term and fixed deposits when the certificates are in the custody of the depositors?

The Forum drew the attention of the Branch Manager through a memorandum dated May 31, 2021. But, there was no action. Among the victims is Mihir Kar Purkayastha, a retired Central government officer and chairman of the Forum. He fell into the trap of the fraudster on June 19. From his SBI account, Rs 24,900 was withdrawn. It was again the new Silchar branch of the SBI. The same day, Purkayastha complained about the Branch Manager and the state police.

The cybercriminals are so dare-devil that just after siphoning off the money, one of them rang up Mihir Purkayastha from mobile no.7058958579 and said, "You people are rich. We the poor only take a share of your money for survival." Even after that if the bank and police grope in darkness, where will citizens deposit their money safely? It seems these criminals work in a well organised and coordinated manner with the tacit support of a section of bank staff. Mihir Purkayastha till now has no answer from any corner.

The next target was Lipika Dey, wife of Prof Dilip Kumar Dey, who got a call from mobile no. 9180021819. Lipika Dey handed over the telephone to Prof Dey. The caller wanted to know about Dey's bank accounts. He refused to part with any information. The hackers seem to be in a challenging and desperate mode. Several such cases of frauds are taking place. Unless these criminals are identified and drastic action is taken, the deposits of account holders will remain unsafe because nobody knows about the next target.

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