Several Vasco locals fall victim to online fraud

Vasco: Several people from New Vaddem, Vasco, were duped to the tune of around Rs 1 lakh through fraudulent online transactions on Saturday.
The victims said they received a phone call from an unknown person, who claimed to be an anganwadi head and also had a local anganwadi teacher join the conference call to gain their trust.
“The person on the phone enquired about anganwadi benefits and further told us that we will receive a deposit of some amount in our respective bank accounts,” said a victim.
The victim said that the unknown person later forwarded a link and asked them to click on that link, which immediately deducted money from their bank accounts.
“We learnt about the fraudulent transactions when the money from our bank accounts was withdrawn without our knowledge,” said the victim.
The victims have lodged individual complaints with Vasco police station.
An official of the directorate of women and child development told TOI that citizens must remain cautious.
“We have warned people to be cautious about strangers. They should not entertain phone calls from anybody seeking or enquiring about bank details. In such circumstances, anganwadi teachers or staff have no role to play, and they are innocent,” the official said.
“We have dropped messages to the anganwadi teachers to be cautious about such fraudulent transactions. We also have decided to call a meeting in order to create awareness and alert anganwadi teachers about fraudulent transactions,” added the official.