Conmen pose as BESCOM officials, dupe woman into paying over Rs 9,600
BENGALURU: Two conmen posing as Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) officials hoodwinked a 35-year-old woman, a resident of the upmarket Rest House Road, into giving her debit card which they swiped on a card machine they were carrying. They swiped the card for Rs 9,600 and vanished without fulfilling the promise of a ‘new BESCOM scheme’. The incident happened around 1.45 pm on April 25.
Although the amount involved in the fraud is not too big, it remains to be seen whether there are other victims of this duo in the neighbourhood. They said that they were going door-to-door with a “new scheme” offered by BESCOM, especially for homes of senior citizens. The victim, Anupama Ramana, was alone at home when the two tricksters arrived at her doorstep.
When she opened the door, they informed her that BESCOM was offering a free meter box under a ‘senior citizen benefit scheme’ along with a few LED light bulbs. But there was a condition. She had to pay Rs 9,600 as an advance which was refundable.The duo told her that BESCOM had recently come up with the scheme for senior citizens and they were giving meter box for free. They enquired with Anupama whether there were any senior citizens at home, to which she replied in the affirmative, although none was there at the time.
The woman believed the duo, but as she was unable to pay cash or leave her home to draw cash, she gave them her debit card, which they swiped on a card machine that they were carrying with them.
The duo then gave her some LED bulbs and left, never to return with the promised meter box. The BESCOM reportedly informed her subsequently that there was no such scheme.
An investigating officer told The New Indian Express, “We have taken up a case of cheating based on the complaint filed by Ramana. The duo conmen spoke in Kannada. They also gave her duplicate lights which do not even work. Our efforts are on to nab the absconding miscreants.”There has been a spurt in such cases of fraud in the city of late. In several instances , home alone and elderly women were tricked by miscreants into revealing their ATM or bank account details. Police have warned people to avoid falling prey to such fraudsters.