LUCKNOW: It might seem pretty handy to look up a phone number on a search engine, but not many realize that this could be a trap set by scoundrels. Two recent incidents prove this.
In the first case, a man was scammed out of Rs 71,000 while surfing the internet to find a hospital number. His wife was ill and he called the number to consult. The victim, Bhagwandin, was asked to deposit 10 rupees via Phonepe to arrange the patient’s registration for consultation with a doctor from Indiranagar. Since the victim told the rogue that they couldn’t make the payment through the app, the rogue asked them to share the bank account number, which they did.
He was asked to download the QuickSupport app and pay 10 rupees through the app. A little later, the victim received an OTP on his registered mobile number and the bad guy asked him to share it. “I was given a registration number and asked to go to the hospital at 10am the next day to see the doctor there. However, when I got there, I was told that the hospital does not do pre-registration and only advises the visiting patients,” he said.
After his wife was let in, the man went to an ATM to withdraw the money. He learned that Rs 71,755 had been withdrawn from his bank account. SHO, Indiranagar, Chhatrapal Singh said that an FIR was registered and cyber cell assistance was sought for the investigation.
In another case, a resident of Aminabad was swindled out of over 64,000 rupees in the name of buying sweets at a well-known shop in Sadar village under Cantonment. The victim, Ashok Kumar Bansal, placed an online order for candy from the store after searching the store’s mobile number on Google. He said the person who answered the call asked him for his bank account details for the payment.
“I paid 64,110 rupees for the order, but when I reached the store to take the order, I was told the cell phone number was fake and I was a victim of scams,” Bansal said.
Superintendent of Police, Cyber Cell, Triveni Singh said that when a user downloads this type of (Quick Support) app, he gives all permissions to the app. “Permissions include access to all other apps, galleries and contact lists. With this permission, criminals access the phone remotely. When an electronic device is remotely accessed, the remote access person can clearly see all activity on the device,” he added.
While the victim is busy filling in their name and number and paying 10 rupees as a service fee, criminals can watch the PIN code, which is then used to later withdraw the money. IANS
Also Read: WhatsApp Phone Numbers of About 500 Million Users Leaked
Also see:
full view
