E-Paper
Man tries to track 2 missing packets of snacks online, loses Rs 2.22 lakh
The businessman on May 1 searched for the helpline number of the grocery website on Google and got a fake helpline number uploaded by the cyber-fraudster. The fraudster asked the businessman to give his bank account number, registered mobile number and the three digit CVV of his ATM card.
A 40-year-old businessman who had ordered some food material online called on a fake helpline number of the company, which he found on a widely used search engine, to enquire about two bhujiya packets worth Rs 400 that he had ordered but not received, and ended up losing Rs 2.25 lakh after sharing his bank details, cyber police officials said.
A FIR was registered on Saturday in connection with the fraud.
“There has been a spurt in such cases and fraudsters are adopting new modus operandi to dupe people during lockdown. People need to be careful. We keep issuing advisories and also create awareness through our Twitter handle,” Harish Baijal, Deputy Inspector General of state cyber police said.
According to Borivali police, the complainant approached them on May 2 and lodged a FIR. On April 22, he had ordered online grocery from an online grocery website. While he received all the material he did not get two bhujiya packets worth Rs 400.
The businessman on May 1 searched for the helpline number of the grocery website on Google and got a fake helpline number uploaded by the cyber-fraudster. The fraudster asked the businessman to give his bank account number, registered mobile number and the three digit CVV of his ATM card.
The fraudster then sent him a link on his mobile phone and asked him to forward it to another mobile number. He then asked the complainant to pass on his UPI pin and the subsequent OTP received on his mobile number. The businessman gave his UPI pin as well as the OTP and within two hours in four transactions a total of Rs 2.25 lakh was withdrawn.
Explaining how the crime was executed, Ritesh Bhatia, a cyber crime investigator said, “The fraudster was successful in setting up the UPI account on his device by managing to convince the victim to share all his sensitive banking details including CVV, UPI pin and OTP. The fraudster also had the card details and hence was successful in wiping away such a large amount within seconds. It’s surprising to know that people still don’t hesitate to share OTPs and CVV numbers.”
