Conman poses as bank employee to rip customer off Rs 50,000

A 45-year-old man lost Rs 50,000 to a conman who posed as a bank employee and promised to help him exchange Rs 500 notes for bills of the 2,000 denomination.

The victim, Prem Ananth Gragary, who lives in Shamanna Layout, Lingarajapuram, has filed a police complaint over the incident that occurred in rather bizarre circumstances in central Bengaluru.

Funds meant for child's fees

Gragary visited the HDFC Bank ATM on Richmond Road around 3.20 pm on December 9 to withdraw Rs 70,000. He needed the money to pay his child’s school fees.

A few minutes later, a man dressed like a bank employee walked up to Gragary. He asked him in Hindi if he wanted to withdraw money from the ATM or the bank branch.

When Gragary told him he would withdraw money from the ATM, the man replied that the machine had only Rs 500 notes and offered to help him get Rs 2,000 notes from the cashier in the branch.

Gragary, who had withdrawn Rs 70,000 from the ATM, believed the man. He looked like a bank employee and was freely mingling with other staff. Gragary handed him Rs 50,000 in 500-rupee notes and asked for 2,000-rupee bills.

The conman gave him a challan and asked him to fill in the details. He then walked up to the cashier, saying he would get the 2,000-rupee notes. As Gragary got busy filling in the challan, the man just disappeared.

Gragary ran to the cashier and inquired about the man. The cashier said he didn’t know who the person was. He said the man had come up to him, spoken briefly and walked off.

Other bank employees told Gragary the man wasn’t their colleague.

Ashok Nagar police have registered a case of cheating and asked the bank for CCTV footage to get clues about the conman.