School headmaster deprived of bank savings by crooks

A number of bank customers across country fell prey to fraudulent activity

BUREWALA:  

A headmaster of a government school claimed that he was deprived of his life’s savings after criminals cleaned out his account in Burewala, Express News reported on Wednesday.

Victim Ghulam Yasin, a resident of Dogar Market and Headmaster in Government Middle School 317, Deewan Sahib, said that three months back, an unidentified person called him on his cellphone and claimed he was speaking from the head office of a local bank. He added the caller inquired about his bank account details, ATM card number, CNIC and other information.

Yasin added that he trusted the caller as he mentioned details of the bank and provided the relevant information to him.

“The next day, I went to the bank branch to withdraw cash. However, when I reached there, I was told that my account is empty and that all the money amounting to more than Rs0.4 million had been withdrawn via the ATM,” he lamented.

The victim said he immediately lodged a complaint with the bank manager over the matter, but officials’ concerned did not take any action.

Ghulam Yasin said he also submitted a written application to State Bank of Pakistan and Federal Ombudsman to identify the culprits and recover his money but he was still awaiting action from them.

He appealed to the chief justice and Punjab government to take notice of the matter.

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.

Cybercriminals challenged the technology-driven banking system in Pakistan at a time when the country was looking to increase financial inclusion and bringing more people into the formal sector.

Some time ago, the FIA cybercrime circle had held several Chinese nationals and Pakistani citizens who were found involved in similar cases from Punjab and Sindh.

Pakistan has faced a surge in cybercrime over the past couple of years. To cope with the challenges, the government recently framed cybercrime laws. As such cases became more common, the challenge for the government has increased, said an analyst.