SBI's fake branch: Appointments, training sessions, new furniture - how fraudsters duped customers in Chhattisgarh

You may have heard of online banking fraud, digital arrests or phishing lakhs of rupees from someone’s account by acquiring sensitive data through fraudulent e-mails, but have you ever heard of a fake branch of a reputed government-run bank? Like a plot straight out of a Bollywood movie, fraudsters precisely planned and executed a massive banking fraud, creating a fake branch of the government-run SBI, approximately 250 km fromChhattisgarh's capitalcity Raipur, in a quiet village named Chhapora in the Sakti district.

To gain the confidence of innocent locals, the fraudsters not only made illegal appointments and conducted fake training sessions but also duped villagers of several lakhs of rupees. They had established elaborate setups to defraud both unemployed individuals and local villagers.

The branch, which opened recently, had brand-new furnishings, official documents, and operational bank counters-all the hallmarks of a true bank. The locals, unaware of the scam, started visiting the "bank" to open accounts and conduct transactions.

Chhattisgarh police said the matter came to light after a villager, who had earlier applied for anSBI Kiosk in Chhapora, noticed a sudden appearance of an SBI branch in the village.

Ajay Kumar Agrawal, the complainant in the case, told NDTV, “Upon his inquiry, the bank's employees failed to provide satisfactory answers, and no branch code was listed on the signboard, he sensed that everything was not correct.”

Agrawal informed the SBI officials at Dabhara, the nearest bank branch and Chhattisgarh Police. After initial probe, it was discovered that the "branch" in Chhapora was a fraud, and the appointments were fake.

"The manager of the Dabra branch informed us of his suspicion regarding a fake bank operating in Chhapora. Upon investigation, it was confirmed that the bank was fake, and several employees had been appointed with counterfeit documents," NDTV quoted senior police official Rajesh Patel as saying.

The police said the primary targets of fraudsters were unemployed individuals from various districts, including Korba, Balod, Kabirdham, and Sakti.

Chhattisgarh Police have seized computers and other materials from the fake branch.

The police said a case has been registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against its three operators, including a person who claimed to be the manager and was said to be the mastermind of the fraud.

A probe is underway to ascertain how many people opened accounts with the fake branch and how much money the conmen collected from them.