Police in Chhattisgarh, India, recently uncovered a fake bank branch set up by scammers that targeted job seekers, promising them stable jobs.
The scammers had set up a fake branch of the State Bank of India, complete with logos, office furniture, and employees. According to BBC report.
One of the victims, Jyoti Yadav, had been job hunting for four years. She was thrilled when she was hired as an office assistant at the “bank.” Yadav said she was interviewed, received an appointment letter, and even an identity card with a promised salary of 30,000 rupees (about $357) a month. However, just a week into her new job, police raided the branch and revealed it was a scam. “I never felt for a moment that I was caught in a fraud. But now everything is ruined,” Yadav said.
Yadav also revealed she had paid a bribe of 250,000 rupees to secure the job. The police stated that many of the six employees hired at the fake bank came from poor backgrounds and had also paid large bribes for their positions.
Police arrested one suspect involved in the scam and are looking for eight others. According to initial investigations, many job seekers were tricked into paying money in exchange for employment at the fake bank. They were then sent for “training” at the bogus branch, after which they were told they would be appointed to legitimate SBI branches.
Rohini Sahu, another victim, was promised a marketing officer job. “No one could have imagined in their wildest dreams that this wasn’t a legitimate bank,” she said. Sahu, like Yadav, was convinced the bank was real due to the proper infrastructure, signboards, and office setup.
Villagers near the fake bank had also believed it was genuine. Ajay Agarwal, a local resident, applied to run a banking kiosk under an SBI scheme. However, when his application wasn’t approved, he began to doubt the branch’s legitimacy and approached a nearby real SBI branch. This led to the police raid, but the fake bank’s manager had already fled.
The man arrested by the police is also accused in another job scam, but he has not commented on the charges while in custody.
