'Magic pen' scripting con all over again

The "vanishing ink" is back in business and with a bang. HT reports.

The "vanishing ink" is back in business and with a bang.

Ravi Kumar, 21, and Vinish Kumar, 27, wielded their "magic pen" to cheat 50 people of their money in the last two years.

They carefully chose their targets — bank customers whose policy accounts had lapsed due to non-payment of instalments. Having worked in a number of multinational banks in the Capital, they knew how to work things to their advantage.

HT Image

They stole data of defaulters from banks. Posing as senior bankers, they would offer to revive lapsed policies and ask the customers to sign cheques to reactivate the accounts.

The cheques — written with the "magic pens", called so because the ink is erasable — would be for small amounts. “They would then erase the amount, fill in a much bigger sum and deposit them in their name,” said Chhaya Sharma, DCP (south).

The two were nabbed from the Qutab Institutional Area on Wednesday. The arrests came after a Fatehpur Beri area resident, Mahabir Singh, found that two cheques issued by him were credited to the account of the duo.

The police have traced at least nine account-holders ripped off R15 lakh by them. “They spent the money on gambling,” said Sharma.