Another day, and yet another online fraud news! They just don’t stop coming in!
The internet has indeed become a new source of robberies!
A software employee based in Hyderabad was yet another victim to a cyber con!
Read to find out more…
A Craving for Biryani Cost the Techie a Fortune!
February 9, 2020, Sunday was a doomsday for the IT professional hailing from Hyderabad wherein he didn’t get his biryani and got robbed of Rs 50,000.
The techie staying in Jubilee Hills, Rahmat Nagar ordered ‘special chicken biryani’ on food delivery app- Zomato. But the order got misplaced and he received sambar-rice instead.
In a fit of rage, the victim searched for Zomato customer care contact online to register a complaint. The search led him to a fake contact number.
The catch is, Zomato doesn’t have any customer care contact number. They accept complaints via emails and in-app chat.
Fraud Customer Care Number
The fraud “customer care” service was very polite to the victim and informed their regret of bad service. They also convinced him that they would refund the money immediately. The fraudster found out that the victim had a Paytm account. The “customer care executive” immediately shared a link of the QR (quick response) code to be scanned for the refund.
Hyderabad cyber crimes Assistant Commissioner of Police, KVM Prasad told The News Minute, “As guided, the customer scanned the QR code and realized that instead of the refund amount being credited, Rs 50,000 got debited from his account.” The ACP said that the victim got deceived by a phishing page which had listed its contact under the disguise of Zomato customer care.
Police have filed a case under section 420 of IPC and 66 D of the IT Act (punishment for cheating by impersonation using computer resource). Reportedly, the investigation is going on.
Such cases of fraudsters pretending to be ‘customer care executives’ have become very common for the past few months. Just last month, a Bengaluru-based techie got conned similarly when she wanted to send a courier.
Police said that the QR code scam is on the rise in the city and have cautioned citizens against scanning the QR code when instructed by the “customer care.”
Zomato has said earlier, “We constantly remind our users via different channels of communication that we do not have a customer care number. Chat and email are our primary channels of care. While we take every effort to ensure customer safety and security, we also urge our esteemed customers to be vigilant and not share their personal or bank account details with anyone.”
How To Avoid Internet Frauds?
- Do not share account information like cvv, otp, expiry date, etc with anyone. No bank employee or online payment app employee is authorized to ask such information.
- Do not connect with the bank or any online payment app by searching for customer care numbers on Google or social media platforms.
- Do not pick up calls from unidentified numbers claiming to be bank or online payment app.
- Do not enter UPI pin or pay money when you are receiving money.
- Do not install third party apps like Screen Share, Teamviewer, etc
- Do not pay any amount to secure a job. No job or internship providing site asks you to pay any amount to secure a job.
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