An elderly couple fell victim to ATM fraud while withdrawing money from a nationalised bank’s ATM counter on Wednesday. The incident occurred at Caltex More, the heart of Malbazar town, in the afternoon. The couple lost a total of ₹17,000, triggering concern in the area as the fraud took place in broad daylight at a busy location.
How the ATM fraud unfolded
Prasanta Bhaumik, a Malbazar municipality employee and resident of ward number four of the town, along with his wife Lipi Bhaumik, had gone to the ATM counter on Wednesday afternoon to withdraw money. According to them, they first inserted the ATM card and successfully withdrew ₹10,000, which was the amount they had planned to take out that day.
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However, while trying to retrieve the card, they noticed that it was stuck inside the machine. Despite several attempts, they were unable to remove it. Their attention then went to the helpline number displayed beside the ATM. Prasanta dialled the number, and a person on the other end answered the call.
The caller claimed that he was at another ATM counter about one kilometre away, near the bus stand square, and informed Prasanta that an engineer was present there. He advised the couple to immediately visit that ATM counter and inform the engineer about the issue.
Money withdrawn after card went missing
Following the advice, Prasanta and his wife went to the ATM counter near the bus stand. However, upon reaching there, they found that no one was present. The couple then returned to the Caltex More ATM counter and discovered that their ATM card was no longer there. It soon became clear that they had been defrauded.
Later, after checking with the bank, they learned that the remaining money in their account had been withdrawn. Prasanta said that there was a total of ₹27,000 in his account. After withdrawing ₹10,000, ₹17,000 should have remained, but that amount had been taken.
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Feeling helpless, Prasanta filed a written complaint at the Malbazar police station on the same day. Lipi said, “We have been victims of a planned conspiracy. The bank is not willing to take any responsibility. We have filed a detailed complaint with the police.”
Jalpaiguri district superintendent of police Y Raghuvamshi has assured that the incident will be investigated seriously. Police said there have been previous instances of fraud at ATM counters in the town, but the method used in this case appears to be new. For now, police are examining CCTV footage from the ATM counter to identify the accused.
