Daijiworld Media Network - Beltangady (SP)

Beltangady, Mar 29: It has come to light that a racket of fraudsters has cheated many people after approaching them with the offer of granting them loans at zero interest through cooperative banks. Many from here and Puttur have become victims of this gang. As per current information, fraud totalling to Rs 12 lacs has happened here alone.

The gang having four to five members contact unknown poor people and offer to get loans sanctioned to them through cooperative banks without interest. They claim that loans up to Rs 15,000 can be granted and seek from them their Adhar card, bank pass book copy and a photograph.

The people are taken to electronic shops, one time password is obtained from their mobiles, and then they are sent away with the promise that they will get loans in a few days.

The modus operandi of the gang is to buy home appliances in the name of the innocent people through a finance company. The people just think that they are giving documents for interest-free loans from cooperative banks. But the agents buy air-conditioners, refrigerators, television sets etc by using finance sanctioned in the name of these villagers. The fraudsters even get signature of the people in automatic debit authorization letters and they come to know that they were tricked only after the amount of instalment is debited to their accounts. If there is no balance in the account, both the banks and finance companies penalise them.

It is suspected that the fraud is run with the connivance of employees of electronic goods dealers. After sending people away after obtaining their signatures, the goods so procured are sold at a low price to outsiders and for this purpose, some commission agents are employed, it is said.

Those who played fraud on the people are not be seen now. The affected people say that the racket had operated with the help of employees of stalls which sold household goods and electronic equipment by raising loan from finance companies. The employees of the finance firm and the shops are now under pressure as more such cases are emerging.