Chandigarh: Housewife looking for refund from Blinkit loses ₹97,000

According to the FIR, complainant searched for Blinkit’s helpline number on Google and contacted a number listed online. Soon after, she received a WhatsApp call from another number, where the caller asked her to access her PhonePe account and follow certain instructions to receive the refund

A fraudster posing as Blinkit customer support reportedly cheated a 50-year-old housewife from Sector 46-B of ₹97,910. The incident occurred after the victim, Anita Ghildiwal, tried to get a refund for curdled milk she had received through the grocery delivery app on March 28.

Sensing fraud after repeated calls, victim rushed to her bank — Axis Bank, Sector 47 — where she was informed by the operations head that ₹78,899, ₹15,013, and ₹3,998 had been fraudulently debited from her account in three separate transactions. (Representational)

According to the FIR, Ghildiwal searched for Blinkit’s helpline number on Google and contacted a number listed online. Soon after, she received a WhatsApp call from another number, where the caller asked her to access her PhonePe account and follow certain instructions to receive the refund.

However, once she complied, her phone was remotely hacked and became unresponsive.

The caller then falsely claimed that ₹10 lakh had been mistakenly credited to her account and pressured her to return it. Sensing fraud after repeated calls, she rushed to her bank — Axis Bank, Sector 47 — where she was informed by the operations head that ₹78,899, ₹15,013, and ₹3,998 had been fraudulently debited from her account in three separate transactions.

The matter was forwarded from Sector-31 police station to the Cyber Crime Cell, Sector 17, where an FIR was registered under Sections 319(2), 318(4), among others of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against an unknown accused. The investigation is underway.