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Cheque Fraud: Rs 180 -> Rs 75,000 cashed out. Original text was overwritten. Please read the details and help.

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Batman said:
This is an awful incident that happened to a neighbor. I am adding details for you all to read. Some of this may sound silly and stupid, but I am stating facts as they are. Please read and help.
  1. Scamster posed as Metlife Insurance employee who needed to collect "final installment" of Rs 180 from neighbor. He had accurate details of insurance policy. He visited neighbor's home to collect, but didn't accept cash. Payment could only be made by cheque.
  2. Neighbor wrote a cross cheque (account payee) of Rs 180. He clearly wrote the name, amount (text and number), date and signature in pen.
  3. The words on cheque were overwritten. Rs 180 -> Rs 75,000. Name, amount, date are changed. Signature is untouched. The cheque has some indication that words are overwritten. I mean, it is like how pencil is erased but some letters are somewhat visible.
  4. Neighbor did not have positive pay facility. He received no call from the bank when cheque was cleared.
  5. Complaint and escalations - Bank has taken no responsibility and shifted the blame completely on neighbor.
  6. FIR not registered - Police has taken a complaint, but refused to register FIR.
I am attaching masked cheque here. Please take a look for yourselves and suggest possible measures. https://postimg.cc/CB0ykmW4. Note that the cheque might look torn, but it is in one peace.
I am willing to escalate to Nodal, Principal Nodal desk and RBI Ombudsman.

Also, I will push neighbor for FIR being registered - what are the grounds for FIR here?

Meanwhile, I have advised neighbor to keep that account empty.


------------
Update: Adding more details based on comments -
  1. Neighbor filled the cheque himself. It was a CROSS cheque. Cross was erased.
  2. Neighbor had also signed on back of cheque and written policy number etc. All of that was erased, only signature remained visible.
  3. MetLife employee details - Neighbor did not verify employee ID. Even if he did, it wouldn't have been difficult to have a fake ID.
  4. Neighbor doesn't remember the pen he used. It could have been scammer's pen.
  5. Written complaint done to bank, received their reply as well. I'm attaching it below.
  6. CCTV footage available of the scammer. What to do with it?
  7. The cheque was indeed encashed without taking ID of scammer. How do I proceed here?
  8. I have asked neighbor to tell the bank that cheque must not be destroyed or taken away.
Why Bank may be at fault -
  1. Bank didn't ID or KYC the scammer, even though cheque was > Rs 50,000. I found this article that states this guideline. Could someone please help me find RBI guideline for the same?
  2. Cheque appears overwritten, but how do I enforce that to the bank? Can RBI do that?
Attached Document: Reply from bank -
  1. Please read the doc carefully. Half of it is in Hindi. The bank claims no responsibility. Bank says that the cheque did not appear forged or overwritten.
  2. It seems like bank hasn't mentioned the clause for ID verification for cheque > Rs 50,000.
Click to expand...
Same happened with me
 
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Batman said:
I'd be willing to try. How to confirm that? Does it leave a special mark, is it visible in UV light or something like that?
Click to expand...
As in did your neighbour write with her own pen or with something the fraudster gave?

Since the bank has the check, you can maybe buy one pen of your own and try erasing what was written on the check to confirm

Obviously this will differ from pen to pen and you don't know which pen he used, so do at your own risk
 
Batman said:
This is an awful incident that happened to a neighbor. I am adding details for you all to read. Some of this may sound silly and stupid, but I am stating facts as they are. Please read and help.
  1. Scamster posed as Metlife Insurance employee who needed to collect "final installment" of Rs 180 from neighbor. He had accurate details of insurance policy. He visited neighbor's home to collect, but didn't accept cash. Payment could only be made by cheque.
  2. Neighbor wrote a cross cheque (account payee) of Rs 180. He clearly wrote the name, amount (text and number), date and signature in pen.
  3. The words on cheque were overwritten. Rs 180 -> Rs 75,000. Name, amount, date are changed. Signature is untouched. The cheque has some indication that words are overwritten. I mean, it is like how pencil is erased but some letters are somewhat visible.
  4. Neighbor did not have positive pay facility. He received no call from the bank when cheque was cleared.
  5. Complaint and escalations - Bank has taken no responsibility and shifted the blame completely on neighbor.
  6. FIR not registered - Police has taken a complaint, but refused to register FIR.
I am attaching masked cheque here. Please take a look for yourselves and suggest possible measures. https://postimg.cc/CB0ykmW4. Note that the cheque might look torn, but it is in one peace.
I am willing to escalate to Nodal, Principal Nodal desk and RBI Ombudsman.

Also, I will push neighbor for FIR being registered - what are the grounds for FIR here?

Meanwhile, I have advised neighbor to keep that account empty.


------------
Update: Adding more details based on comments -
  1. Neighbor filled the cheque himself. It was a CROSS cheque. Cross was erased.
  2. Neighbor had also signed on back of cheque and written policy number etc. All of that was erased, only signature remained visible.
  3. MetLife employee details - Neighbor did not verify employee ID. Even if he did, it wouldn't have been difficult to have a fake ID.
  4. Neighbor doesn't remember the pen he used. It could have been scammer's pen.
  5. Written complaint done to bank, received their reply as well. I'm attaching it below.
  6. CCTV footage available of the scammer. What to do with it?
  7. The cheque was indeed encashed without taking ID of scammer. How do I proceed here?
  8. I have asked neighbor to tell the bank that cheque must not be destroyed or taken away.
Why Bank may be at fault -
  1. Bank didn't ID or KYC the scammer, even though cheque was > Rs 50,000. I found this article that states this guideline. Could someone please help me find RBI guideline for the same?
  2. Cheque appears overwritten, but how do I enforce that to the bank? Can RBI do that?
Attached Document: Reply from bank -
  1. Please read the doc carefully. Half of it is in Hindi. The bank claims no responsibility. Bank says that the cheque did not appear forged or overwritten.
  2. It seems like bank hasn't mentioned the clause for ID verification for cheque > Rs 50,000.
Click to expand...
The party can testify before a Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in their nearest court, Police will then have to register FIR
 
Vishal N said:
As in did your neighbour write with her own pen or with something the fraudster gave?

Since the bank has the check, you can maybe buy one pen of your own and try erasing what was written on the check to confirm

Obviously this will differ from pen to pen and you don't know which pen he used, so do at your own risk
Click to expand...
The bank will not allow us to write or alter that cheque at all, now that it is under investigation.

I have asked RBI to take hold of the cheque OR direct the bank to get a forensic investigation done.

What else can we try here?
 
Lorddiesel said:
The party can testify before a Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in their nearest court, Police will then have to register FIR
Click to expand...
Yes, that is the plan. I am waiting for a response from RBI. If the bank gets clean chit, there's little to be done by filing FIR - the thief might never be caught. But we've come this far, I'll ask the neighbour to give one last push and get the FIR filed.
Then we close this matter in our head once and for all.
 
Pilot Frixion pen ink is sensitive to heat and actually reappears at temperatures below -10 degrees C. So if this 'magic pen' is like Pilot Frixion, it might be worthwhile to put that cheque in the freezer for some time to see if any writing reappears.

All the best!
 
ramirami said:
Pilot Frixion pen ink is sensitive to heat and actually reappears at temperatures below -10 degrees C. So if this 'magic pen' is like Pilot Frixion, it might be worthwhile to put that cheque in the freezer for some time to see if any writing reappears.

All the best!
Click to expand...
Thank you for this detail. This could be a key information to confirm if the cheque has been altered. I can request this in my update email to RBI.

I can see two possible conflicts -
  1. I don't think RBI/PNB will allow the cheque to be exposed to such temperature - in fear of further damage/alterations to the cheque.
  2. Even if our hypothesis is right - meaning that the marks reappear and the cheque is proved fraudulent, we don't necessarily gain anything. PNB claimed that the cheque appeared unaltered from the naked eye.

    I've posted a picture of the cheque here. All of us can see that there's reasonable doubt of alteration. But PNB didn't agree. So far, RBI hasn't taken notice as well.
Nevertheless, I will suggest this method, and request it to be done in my update email to RBI. "Karm karo, fal ki chinta mat karo". I will do my duty.
 
To those who have been waiting for an update on this case, my neighbour has received NO further replies/update from RBI as of today. He lives far away, but I took out some time to go meet him in person. He remains dejected, and yet somewhat hopeful in me and all of you here.

It has been almost 4 weeks now since the last update from RBI, I will write an email request for case conclusion. Any suggestions here? RBI BO seems to have completely ghosted us.
 
ramirami said:
Pilot Frixion pen ink is sensitive to heat and actually reappears at temperatures below -10 degrees C. So if this 'magic pen' is like Pilot Frixion, it might be worthwhile to put that cheque in the freezer for some time to see if any writing reappears.

All the best!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the information.
 
Batman said:
To those who have been waiting for an update on this case, my neighbour has received NO further replies/update from RBI as of today. He lives far away, but I took out some time to go meet him in person. He remains dejected, and yet somewhat hopeful in me and all of you here.

It has been almost 4 weeks now since the last update from RBI, I will write an email request for case conclusion. Any suggestions here? RBI BO seems to have completely ghosted us.
Click to expand...
This is not good. Was there a timeframe mentioned in any acknowledgement email from RBI?

If not, shouldn't there be an escalation matrix there as well?
 
devine_mortal said:
This is not good. Was there a timeframe mentioned in any acknowledgement email from RBI?

If not, shouldn't there be an escalation matrix there as well?
Click to expand...
No bhai. No timeline. I logged into RBI complaint section today.

There's a button to raise appeal - but appeals can be raised only when a decision has been made.
 
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