Tamil Nadu dealers alerted about a fraudster

Chennai

August 29th, 2007

Dealers in Tamil Nadu received a red alert about a fraudster from Confed-ITA,
the local association in the state. The alert was issued about a person called
Manish Tiwari who claimed to be an employee of the Axis Bank (earlier called UTI
Bank), who tried to buy a Lenovo laptop,

B Rajamanickam, CEO of Infotek Computer Services was introduced to Tiwari by
his friend. Narrating the sequence of his interactions, Rajamanickam said, “Tiwari
was staying with his wife and two children at a hotel in Salem. On the 24th he
has called up my friend in Trichy, after seeing his advertisement in some
newspaper. Tiwari was directed to me as I was in Salem. We both met and after
all enquiries about the price and models, he said that he was working in Axis
Bank,” Rajamanickam said.

His suspicions were aroused when Tiwari said he did not possess a UTI Bank
chequebook, which was surprising since he was an employee of that bank. Instead
he insisted that Rajamanickam accept a Citibank cheque, for which there is no
branch in Salem.

The dealer then asked him to collect the laptop once the cheque got realized,
to which Tiwari did not agree. Rajamanickam was doubtful and called Axis Bank to
check whether Tiwari was an employee of that bank, to allay his fears. “My
guess proved to be right, and the bank replied that he was not their employee
and asked us to be careful with that guy. Immediately I alerted all the dealers.
Thank god we escaped without losing money,” noted a thankful Rajamanickam.

He further added that the dealers in the other towns should also be highly
conscious, as this guy could approach them at anytime. Now Confed-ITA has also
decided to pass this information to other partners to prevent them from falling
prey to Tiwari.