Bengaluru: Anxious and pressed for time, a 26-year-old man stepped into an ATM kiosk in Banashankari last week with one goal — to send money for his ailing mother’s treatment. Minutes later, that urgency was turned against him, as a seemingly helpful stranger walked away with Rs 50,000, leaving him with nothing but a false assurance.According to the complaint, Shivaprakash, a private firm employee residing in Banashankari II Stage, was at an ATM kiosk between 7.10pm and 7.30pm on April 3 after learning from his elder brother, Mahendra, that their mother, Bhuma, had been hospitalised in their native village at Tiruvannamalai district in Tamil Nadu. Urgently asked to arrange funds for her treatment, he set out to transfer money without delay.He asked his wife to withdraw Rs 50,000 from her chit fund and headed to the State Bank of India ATM on 9th Main Road. While inside the kiosk, visibly anxious and in a hurry, he was approached by an unidentified man in his 30s who struck up a conversation. On learning about Shivaprakash’s situation and his attempt to deposit the cash into his brother’s account, the stranger offered to assist him.The stranger offered to transfer the money through a digital payment application, PhonePe, stating that he was trying to withdraw money and his debit card was not working. As Shivaprakash was in an emergency to send money for his mother’s treatment, he trusted the stranger, handed over the money and shared his brother Mahendra’s PhonePe details for the transfer.Within minutes, the man claimed the transaction was complete, sent a screenshot as proof and quickly left the spot after sharing his mobile phone number. But the relief was short lived. When Shivaprakash checked with his brother, he realised that no money had been credited.By the time he tried to locate the man, he had vanished. Calls to the number provided initially went unanswered, and the next day, the accused allegedly threatened Shivaprakash with dire consequences if he tried to contact him again.A senior officer said the accused created a fake transaction screenshot to make it appear as if the money was transferred using AI tools, thereby cheating the victim. A case has been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 336 (forgery), 340 (forged document or electronic record and using it as genuine), 318 (cheating) and 351 (criminal intimidation) at Banashankari police station, and efforts are on to nab the accused. Police are analysing CCTV footage of the ATM and surrounding areas to get clues about the miscreant.BoxDRAMA AT ATM KIOSKShivaprakash learns from his elder brother that their mother in Tiruvannamalai is hospitalised and urgently needs money for treatmentHe asks his wife to withdraw Rs 50,000 from her chit fund and heads to the SBI ATM on 9th Main Road, Banashankari II StageAn unknown man in his 30s approaches him, offers to help after hearing about the emergency, and suggests transferring the money via PhonePe Trusting the stranger, Shivaprakash hands over the Rs 50,000 cash and shares his brother’s PhonePe detailsThe man shows a fake transaction screenshot and leaves; Shivaprakash later finds that no money was credited, and the accused becomes unreachableThe accused allegedly threatens Shivaprakash; police are analysing CCTV footage to trace him
