26-year-old in Mumbai tweets to Zomato for refund, loses ₹70K to ‘executive’

Within 45 minutes, the victim got a call from a man, who claimed to be a Zomato executive. The caller allegedly told the victim that his money would be refunded and asked him the PIN for his BHIM app.

Aarey Sub Police have booked an unidentified man for allegedly posing as a Zomato executive and duping a 26-year-old-man of Rs. 70,000 on the pretext of providing him a refund. Police said the accused had found the victim by tracking Zomato’s Twitter account, which the latter had tagged seeking a refund.

After the victim provided him the PIN, the fraudster withdrew Rs. 70,000 using the same within 10 minutes. (HT FILE)

According to the FIR, the complainant, a senior analyst in a bank, had ordered food through the Zomato app on July 24. However, after the delivery, he wanted to return it, and also sought a refund. He then tweeted to Zomato asking for a refund and posted his mobile number.

Within 45 minutes, the victim got a call from a man, who claimed to be a Zomato executive. The caller allegedly told the victim that his money would be refunded and asked him the PIN for his BHIM app.

After the victim provided him the PIN, the fraudster withdrew Rs. 70,000 using the same within 10 minutes. Realising he had been duped, the victim approached the police the same day and an FIR was registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and IT Act.

Cyber advocate Vicky Shah, however, said the complainant may not have given all relevant information. “Just by giving the BHIM PIN, transactions cannot be completed. The fraudster must have sent requests multiple times as the transaction limit for BHIM app is Rs. 20,000,” said Shah.