Cyber frauds: Navy man falls victim to search engine fraud

Mumbai: A 25-year-old Navy sailor has become a victim of search engine listing fraud when he went online in search of a customer care number of a popular digital wallet platform. The number he found online was that of a fraudster who duped him for almost Rs 2 lakh.

According to the Colaba police, recently the sailor, working on a frigate, has transferred Rs 4000 to his friends. However, the amount was debited from his account but not transferred in his friend's account. After waiting for a couple of days the Navy man went online in search on customer care number of the payment app.

He found a number on a search engine and when called the person who received his call introduced himself as a customer care representative of the payment app. After knowing his problem the representative told the sailor to download an application on his mobile and asked to share the ID generated after the installation. Once the ID was shared the fraudster got remote access of his mobile, said an official.

The fraudster then asked the Navy man to open his digital wallet and on the pretext of refund and asked him to type a code 94714, and enter UPI ID. The Navy man hesitated, however, the fraudster assured him that if anything goes wrong he will refund. However, as soon as he entered his UPI ID, Rs 94,714 was debited from his account.

When the complainant told him about the transaction the fraudster said that he is sending the money and asked for OTP number sent on his phone. Unaware of the fraud the Naval officer shared the OTP four times and lost Rs 1.3 lakh in five multiple transactions, the fraudster then disconnected his phone.

Realising his mistake the Navy man approached the Colaba police and registered his complaint. We have registered an offence of online cheating and we are trying to get the bank details in which the money was transferred and also trying to trace the fraudster's mobile, " said a police officer.

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