West Bengal: Scientist duped by online fraudster in Kolkata

KOLKATA: A senior scientist of Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics here has been duped of Rs 2.07 lakh by an online fraudster who telephoned her posing as a bank official, police said on Thursday.
The scientist has been identified as Shampa Biswas, a resident of Kestopur area in the northern fringes of the city.
"On Wednesday, the complainant received a call from an unknown number asking her to download a mobile phone application from Playstore for updating her 'KYC' details," an officer of Bidhannagar police said.
Once she downloaded the app, 'Team viewer', the caller got access to her phone and asked her to pay Rs 10 to a particular account, he said.
"The scientist paid the amount from net banking but she was asked to pay through phone banking. Once she did so, Rs 1.35 lakh was debited from her account within minutes. Then the caller asked her to pay Rs 10 using her debit card and soon after she paid the amount, she lost another Rs 72,000," the police officer said.
When Biswas mentioned that she was losing money from her accounts, the caller said that it was due to some technical glitch and the money would soon be credited.
"But she hung up and since then the caller's number has been switched off. The scientist lodged a complaint with Baguihati police station and we have started an investigation," he said.