'Need ₹570, server down': Delhi Metro commuter exposes new scam in viral post

Scams at crowded metro stations aren’t new. But this one at Delhi’s Rajiv Chowk is getting attention for how convincing, and calculated it was.

A commuter recently shared his experience on Reddit, describing how a man posing as a corporate employee approached him asking for ₹570. The excuse? His bank’s servers were down, and he urgently needed the money.

“He asked if I knew English, then showed me a PhonePe screen saying he worked in Chennai and needed help,” the user wrote on Reddit. The man claimed he’d return the money once the server issue was resolved.

The red flags started adding up. The man’s appearance didn’t match his story: Messy clothes, overgrown nails, and a vague ID card with no company name. Something felt off.

The commuter played along. “I told him I had an account in the same bank and would check if my server was working — I don’t,” the post said. When the scammer insisted it was a Chennai-specific issue, the user walked away.

What this really means is that scammers are getting better at crafting believable stories. All it takes is a moment of trust.

The post has since gone viral on Reddit, with several users chiming in to say they’ve seen similar scams at metro stations.

One user noted, “ When I was a regular metro user this used to be a quarterly experience - guys in cars running out of petrol, students who had lost metro cards, some dude with a snake too. Just say no."

Another user called, "On logo ki vaje se people in a genuine fix don't get help. I have been helped by strangers in need but I don't see that happening anytime soon now."

"Exact same script, different station," the third user wrote.