Cyber fraud: Ordering food, radiation therapist duped of Rs 40K

Mumbai: In a Google listing fraud, a 34-year-old radiation therapist employed at a private hospital lost Rs 40,288 after he ordered dinner worth Rs 720 on a food delivery app. The fraudster posed as a food delivery employee and sought card details from the victim on the pretext of making the payment, failing which the order cannot be placed. A case of cheating has been lodged against an unknown person, who has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act.

After a long day at Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital in Girgaum, the complainant, who is a radiation therapist, went home and planned to order dinner from a food delivery app. Accordingly, on September 10, at around 10 pm, the therapist searched the food delivery company Zomato's number on a popular search engine.

The complainant came across a phone number and enquired about a nearby restaurant to order food, following which he gave an order of food worth Rs 720. The man, who claimed to be a representative of Zomato, asked the complainant to share a One Time Password (OTP), which the latter obliged. "Subsequently, after a while, the man called me and said that the payment was declined and the order could not be processed without payment. He asked me to share the bank details for verification and told me to share the OTPs again. I did so thinking it to be a valid procedure," said the radiation therapist in his complaint.

After the call, the complainant saw that he had received two messages from the bank intimating him about transactions worth Rs 19,784 each. Having realised that he was duped of a total of Rs 40,288, the radiation therapist approached LT Marg Police and lodged a complaint. Acting on the complaint, an FIR was registered against the unidentified person and an investigation is underway.

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