When Dadar based businesswoman Hutoxi Panthaki received a text message from HDFC Bank informing her that Rs 47,201 had been withdrawn from her current account through a cheque, she was "bewildered.” The cheque was issued in the name of one Mithon Kumar. It was "a name I had never heard before…Moreover, the signature totally matched mine,” she stated. Panthaki was the victim of fraudulent cheque cloning, noted the mid-day (MD) of October 17, 2022. Not having issued any such cheque, yet, she examined her cheque book and found all the leaves intact. She suspected that someone had not only cloned her cheque, but also forged her signature.
The Bank officials "told me that they found out where the cheque was deposited so there was no need for me to file a police complaint,” Panthaki told the newspaper. The amount has now been credited back to her account.
The Bank’s spokesperson told MD that "A physical cheque presented under the Cheque Truncation System (electronic clearing) was presented to another bank…We will go to the police after some verification... and have asked Panthaki to file a police complaint.”
...