A man from Michael Nagar in Dum Dum was duped out of nearly ₹4 lakh by an “agent” who promised to arrange a Canadian work visa for him, police said on Tuesday.

No one was arrested until Tuesday evening but Tanveer Singh got back his money.

The “agent” had asked Singh to hand him six cheques for ₹100 each and gave him a pen to write them, a senior officer of Bidhannagar Commissionerate said.

“Our preliminary investigations have revealed that this man had handed Singh a
pen whose ink can be erased. After taking the cheques the man replaced the amount by ₹66,000 in each cheque and managed to siphon off ₹3,96,000 from his account,” said the officer.

According to the officer, Singh who had been looking for jobs overseas, had come across an online advertisement and contacted an “agent” who promised to
help him get a job in Canada and get his work visa done for a fee.

“The man told Singh that he was in this profession of helping people land jobs abroad and arranging work permits and visas for them for more than a decade. He managed to convince Singh that he would help him find a job and take care of his paperwork as well,” said the officer.

The “agent” also took Singh’s resume, photographs and other documents to gain his trust.

A few days later the man asked Singh to meet him with his chequebook, the officer said.

“The agent then asked Singh to write six cheques for ₹100 each,” the officer added.

On Monday, Singh received several SMS alerts from his bank informing him about the transactions.

He then rushed to his bank branch and spoke to bank officials there who advised him to lodge a police complaint immediately.

Based on his complaint at the airport police station, the cops started a probe. They
also informed the bank authorities who initiated the”stop payment protocol for cheques”.

Singh’s lost amount was then remitted back to his account.

“We are trying to track down the man who had duped Singh. We are hoping to arrest him very soon,” the officer added.

Another officer of Bidhannagar Commissionerate said nobody should take any pen or writing instrument from a stranger or an acquaintance while writing cheques.

“Magic ink pens can be handed out to you. These pens have special ink that can be easily erased. People have been duped in this way in the past as well across the country,” said the officer.