An elderly woman was allegedly duped of ₹1.91 lakh after she complained of ₹175 spoiled milk delivery. The 63-year-old retired woman from Gujarat’s Rajkothad fell prey to the cyber scam after she placed an order through a renowned quick-commerce grocery.
Once the order was delivered to her address, she purportedly found that the five packets of milk ordered from Zepto were rotten. Seeking refund, she took to Google to search for customer care number of Zepto. The police have registered an FIR she dialed one of the numbers that appeared on search results, India Today reported.
Believing that she was talking to the company's customer care executive, she raised her complaint. The person on the other end of the call impersonating Zepto customer care executive identified himself as Ismail Ansari. Subsequently, he gained the woman’s trust and made her believe that he was going to resolve the issue by initiating UPI transaction.
According to the complaint, the woman received an APK file following which the scamster asked her to download it and directed her to follow certain steps. As part of the deception, he tricked the elderly woman into transferring a total of ₹1.91 lakh to various bank accounts and UPI IDs.
Once the senior citizen realised that she had been scammed, she approached the national cyber helpline. An FIR has been lodged against those associated with the mobile numbers and bank accounts involved in the fraud. at the Rajkot City Cyber Crime Police Station.
The enforcement agency levied charges associated with cheating and other relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act against the accused. An investigation was launched soon after to examine the UPI IDs involved and ascertain how the scam was executed using bank accounts and mobile numbers. The probe to trace those involved in the fraud is underway.
How to avoid Loan App related scams
Official handle of Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre called CyberDost I4C in a social media post alerted citizens against fake Loan Apps that simulate genuine lending platforms. In a post on X, it stated, “Cyber criminals are creating fake Loan Apps that mimic genuine lending platforms to steal your personal information, misuse permissions & trap you in fraudulent schemes.”
Urging victims of cyber fraud to immediately call 1930 or report the incident at http://cybercrime.gov.in, the cyber cell advised the public to follow certain guidelines before downloading any Loan application to avoid falling prey to frauds avoid scams.
Listed below are some of the steps to avoid scams:
• Verify the developer and company details.
• Check whether the lender is RBI-regulated.
• Read user reviews carefully and watch for suspicious activity.
• Never share sensitive documents or grant unnecessary app permissions.
