West Bengal: Taxman, MP file cyber fraud complaints

KOLKATA: Not only the common man, even civil servants and parliamentarians can fall prey to cyber fraudsters.
Recently, a fake social media account was created in the name of a senior Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer and his name was used to open a bank account. In another incident, Trinamool MP from Serampore, Kalyan Banerjee, claimed that he had received a phone call where the man on the other end posed as a bank manager and asked for his personal details.However, Banerjee understood that it was some fraudster and reported the matter to Kalighat police station.
According to police sources, the senior IRS officer, an additional director of Income tax department, came across his fake profile. “It is a classic example of duplication on social networking sites. A fake Facebook friend can seek to learn valuable information about someone such as secret data from the company he or she works with or credit card details. In most cases, like the one where the IRS officer was duped, they pretend to be friends and ask one for a loan or some other friendly favour. We are investigating the case and believe someone known to the officer is involved,” said an investigating officer.
In the second case, Banerjee said it was on August 28 that the accused represented himself as the manager of the Kalighat Branch of a public sector bank and induced the complainant over another mobile number.
“The MP was asked to deliver original bank papers and Aadhaar card. The case was recorded on the basis of the complaint lodged by him,” the FIR stated with IPC sections pertaining to cheating slapped on the accused.