A 56-year-old homemaker residing in Bengaluru’s Vasanth Nagar has lost Rs 98,000 in a cyber fraud incident that originated from a routine request for a refund. The victim, identified as Sreelakshmi Shastry, had placed an order for curd through the quick-commerce platform Blinkit on October 17. Upon the delivery of her items, she discovered that the curd packet was leaking, prompting her to seek a resolution through customer support.
In an attempt to address the issue, Ms. Shastry performed an online search to find the official customer care contact number for the platform. She proceeded to call a number that appeared in the search engine results, believing it to be the legitimate helpline. During the subsequent conversation, the individual on the other end, posing as a customer service executive, requested that she send proof of the damaged item. To facilitate this, the caller sent a link via WhatsApp, instructing her to upload a photograph of the leaking packet.
The situation escalated quickly after Ms. Shastry complied with these instructions. Following the upload, an unidentified person contacted her again, offering assurances that her refund request was being processed. As part of this alleged verification process, she was directed to check her Google Pay application. It was at this critical moment that she noticed the application icon had disappeared from her phone, signaling that her device had been compromised. Shortly thereafter, she discovered that a total of Rs 98,000 had been debited from her Bank of Baroda account without her authorization.
Recognizing that she had been targeted by criminals masquerading as support staff, Ms. Shastry approached the local authorities to report the crime. The Central CEN Crime Police Station in Bengaluru has since registered a formal case under the relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Law enforcement officials have confirmed that a detailed investigation into the source of the fraudulent links and the bank accounts involved is currently underway.
This case serves as a stark reminder of the prevalence of "customer care" scams, where perpetrators exploit the urgency and trust of consumers. Fraudsters frequently monitor search engine results to place fake helpline numbers, waiting for unsuspecting users to reach out. Once a connection is established, the scammers use social engineering tactics to persuade victims to click malicious links, share sensitive banking credentials, or provide one-time passwords, ultimately gaining remote control over the victim's financial applications.
Cybersecurity experts and police authorities continue to urge the public to exercise extreme caution when navigating online support channels. The standard advice is to ignore phone numbers found in unverified web searches and to raise complaints exclusively through official, verified mobile applications or the company's dedicated website. Consumers are further warned never to share UPI PINs, bank passwords, or OTPs with unknown callers, regardless of the level of urgency presented.
Should a citizen fall victim to such financial cyber fraud, police advise immediate action to mitigate further losses. This includes contacting one's bank to freeze accounts and reporting the incident through the national cybercrime helpline at 1930 or via the official National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. As the investigation into Ms. Shastry’s case progresses, authorities remain focused on identifying the network behind this targeted digital theft.
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