Cybercrime: Conmen deprive villager of bank savings in Gujranwala

Police book seven criminals for their alleged involvement in cybercrime

FAISALABAD/ LAHORE: A man was deprived of his life’s savings after criminals cleaned out his account in Gujranwala’s D-Type Colony on Friday.

Victim Muhammad Ilyas, a resident of Chak No 223-RB, Rasoolpura, told Express News that a person called him on his cellphone and identified himself as an ‘army personnel’.

He added the caller inquired about his bank account details, ATM card number, CNIC and other information.



Ilyas added that he did not trust the caller and did not gave him details.

He mentioned, “After a few minutes, I received another call on my cellphone and the caller claimed that he was speaking from the head office of a local bank and I should provide details to them.”

Ilyas said the caller assured him that all his information will be kept secret and will not be passed on to any other person.

He said that he trusted the caller and provided the relevant information to him. “After some time, I received a message from the bank that my ATM password has been changed,” the victim elaborated.

He lamented, “I immediately went to the local bank branch to inquire about the matter. However, when I reached there, I was told that my account is empty and that all the money had been withdrawn via the ATM.”

He revealed that after a brief investigation, he came to know that a gang was involved behind such incidents, who deprive people of their money and saving through fraud practices. He said the accused were identified as Muhammad Azhar, Rana Mudassir, Mairaj Din, Sher Zaman, Javed Kumhar, Qasim Awan and Aftab.

The victim said he immediately lodged a complaint with the bank manager and police officials over the matter.



The victim said he worked hard and saved money. He appealed to authorities to arrest the culprits and recover the looted amount.

Meanwhile, D-Type Colony police have registered a case under sections 420, 380 and 171 against the nominated accused and started investigations.

Recently, a number of bank customers from across the country fell prey to fraudulent activity and complained of unauthorised withdrawals from their accounts. This resulted in the blockage of several ATM cards after reports surfaced of wide-scale incidents.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2018.