AIIMS Patna Founding Director falls victim to Rs 3.22 lakh cyber fraud

Lucknow: A 72-year-old senior orthopaedic professor and founding director of AIIMS Patna has allegedly fallen victim to cyber fraud after Rs 3.22 lakh was withdrawn from his bank account through a series of unauthorised transactions over a period of more than two months. 

The doctor, who is currently working as an orthopaedic professor at a medical institute in Lucknow, noticed unauthorised transactions from his Indian Bank account. According to his complaint, a total of Rs 3,22,408 was withdrawn between July 3 and September 15.

The suspected fraud came to light when the doctor checked his account and found multiple transactions that he had not authorised. He told the police that he had not shared his OTP, password or other confidential banking details with anyone.

The doctor subsequently reported the suspected fraud on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal on September 18. The complaint was then taken up by Mahanagar police, who registered a case under relevant provisions and began an investigation, reports Hindustan Times. 

Police are now examining the account statements and transaction records to establish how the withdrawals were carried out and where the money was transferred. Investigators are also tracing the digital trail associated with the transactions to identify the account holders and others who may have been involved.

The case highlights the difficulty of detecting prolonged unauthorised withdrawals when fraudulent transactions occur in small or repeated amounts over a period of time. In this case, the disputed transactions continued for more than two months before they were detected and reported.

A police officer has been assigned to investigate the matter. Officials are scrutinising the banking records and other available digital evidence as part of efforts to trace the suspected cybercriminals.

No arrests have been reported so far, and the investigation is continuing.