Lucknow: An alert employee of Punjab National Bank (PNB) has saved an elderly woman from falling victim to digital arrest and losing Rs.1.14 crore. The woman aged 74 years thanked the bank employees for saving her hard-earned money.
The woman named Usha Shukla, was targeted by cyber criminals who claimed that her family members had been “digitally arrested” for money laundering. Posing as officers from an investigating agency, the fraudsters frightened her with threats of arrest and harm to her family. They told her to transfer all the money from her bank accounts for “verification,” promising to return it later.
Shaken and terrified, the elderly woman went to the PNB Mama Chauraha branch in Vikas Nagar with 12 fixed deposits worth ₹1.14 crore. She began the process of breaking the FDs and transferring the money to an account given by the callers.
Seeing the large amount, bank staff grew cautious and informed the branch manager, Savarn Rathore. The manager noticed the woman was extremely nervous and avoided questions. When she finally shared an account number, his doubts grew stronger. To confirm his suspicion, the manager deliberately gave her a wrong account number and asked her to recheck it with the person on the phone.
Circle Head RK Singh said that manager Swarn Rathore became suspicious after seeing the elderly woman’s condition. He called her into his cabin, but she was afraid to reveal anything. The woman provided an account number, which further fueled his suspicions. The manager deliberately provided a false account number and told her to obtain the correct account number from the person to whom the money was to be sent. With that, the woman left the cabin.
As the woman stepped out to make a call, bank staff quietly followed her and saw her speaking to someone in fear. The manager had sent a peon after the woman to see who she was talking to on the phone. The woman went to the side and was talking quietly to someone. That’s when the full picture became clear. The woman later revealed that fraudsters had threatened her with “digital arrest” and even issued death threats to her family.
The bank officials immediately counseled her and informed the police. To prevent any loss, they took her to other banks, including ICICI Bank and Central Bank, and got her accounts frozen. It was also found that the fraudsters had hacked her mobile phone.
The woman lives alone in Vikas Nagar. Her husband passed away eight years ago, one son works in a private bank, and another son has died. Thanks to the timely intervention by alert PNB officials, her life savings were saved just in time. This incident highlights how quick thinking by bank staff can stop cyber fraud and protect vulnerable citizens from losing everything to digital scams.
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