A youth in South Dinajpur district was recently cheated of money by a fraudster who pretended to be a government official and offered him a job in a bank.

Timir Choudhury, who earns a living by providing private tuition and stays in Bolla panchayat area in the district, filed a complaint with cybercrime police in Balurghat on Sunday.

The police have initiated a probe.

His aunt, Banashri Choudhury, a teacher in a Sishu Siksha Kendra (SSK) in Bolla, said she got a phone call a couple of days back.

“The caller introduced himself as the joint block development officer of Balurghat block and told me that there was a vacant post in a bank. He asked me if I knew anyone who needed a job, and he could arrange the recruitment,” said Banashri.

The woman said that she spoke with Timir, who needed a job. Soon, Timir spoke to
the caller.

“The caller repeated that he was the joint BDO. He told me to transfer ₹3,000 online as I needed a computer certificate for the job. Then he asked for another ₹3,000 as charges for training to be arranged in Calcutta,” said the youth, adding that he gave ₹6,000.

The fraudster called him again and asked for another ₹4,000. “This is why I got suspicious. I went to the BDO office and realised I had been cheated. Then I went to the police and filed the complaint on Sunday,” he added.

Police sources said a couple of days back, fraudsters had similarly cheated ₹8,000 from another teacher who is from Kaigram in the same block.

Sambal Jha, the BDO of Balurghat block, said they were looking into the issue. “We are imparting awareness across the block so that people don’t get cheated like this. We are making it clear that no one from my office makes any calls to offer jobs. If required, we will also file a complaint with the police,” he said.