NEW DELHI: Gold chains worth up to three lakh rupees have been lost to a gold dealer in a new scam. The reason is a bank message showing that the money has reached his account. Nawal Kishore Khandalwal, a gold merchant in Delhi lost the gold.

Nawal Kishore has been running a gold shop in Delhi's oldest gold and silver market, Kacha Mahajani in Chandni Chowk, for 50 years. On his way to Ayodhya, Naval gets a scammer's call. The requirement was to have a gold chain of 15 grams. The man said that he could not reach the gold shop and asked Naval for his internet banking details.

After a while, a message came on the gold merchant's phone that the account was credited with Rs. 93,400. He sent a screenshot of it to his children and then sent the gold chain to the address given by the fraudster. The next day the same person called and asked for a 30 gram gold chain. Things went on like the previous day and Nawal got a message on his phone that Rs 1,95,400 had reached his account. Then the chain was sent.

A few days later, when the merchant checked his account through the bank's app, he came to know about the fraud. The message was in the format sent by a bank but was not actually from the bank. Then the merchant's sons went to the bank and inquired about it, but realized that the money had not reached the account. Nawal said that the bank has no responsibility in this matter.

After receiving a complaint in the incident, the police have started an investigation. But the fraudsters have not been caught. Bullion and Jewelers Association President Yogesh Singhal said that he has received information that many others have been scammed.