Mumbai New: Fake Bank Account Opened In Victim's Name Sparks Police Investigation

Mumbai: A 21-year-old youth from Thane was left baffled when officials from a private bank arrived at his residence to conduct a verification process for a bank account that had been fraudulently opened in his name using bogus documents. 

The incident unfolded on August 29, when a group of officials from the private bank approached the complainant at his home in Wagle Estate and inquired whether he had a savings account at their bank. After the youth denied opening any account at the bank, he was shown information regarding an account under his name on the bank’s mobile application and was advised to visit the bank’s branch for further clarification.

The complainant promptly visited the bank's branch in Thane and was informed that the account had been opened at their Lower Parel branch on May 6 of this year. Upon visiting the Lower Parel branch and seeking the passbook for the said account, he noticed that his name and residential address were accurate, but the mobile number associated with the account belonged to someone else. Further examination of the passbook revealed a series of transactions made this year between August 15 and August 23, during which regular deposits and withdrawals took place as well as a whopping deposit of Rs2,08,360 on August 23. After requesting the account’s information and signature on the bank’s computer, it was discovered that the account had been opened online, and the complainant’s signature closely resembled the one on his PAN card. 

The complainant then realised that someone had intentionally used fake documents or obtained them illicitly to open an account under his name and carry out transactions. A case has been registered under Sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the Indian Penal Code and 66D (cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.