A 68-year-old man recently lost Rs 1.5 lakh to cyber criminals after attempting to contact an OTT company’s customer care department.
On January 27, a West Bengaluru resident reported to the police that he had lost money. Although the man had a subscription to the over-the-top app, he was having trouble beaming the content onto his TV.
He therefore decided to file a complaint with OTT customer service and looked up the number online. He called a mobile number he discovered on a webpage that was listed as the OTT company’s number.
The call was disconnected after the receiver told the man that an executive from their company would get in touch with him shortly. As a result, the man got a call from a different number. After pretending to be checking the issue in the system, the caller informed the man that he needed to pay Rs 10 (as a recharge) to fix the issue.
The man received a mobile number from the miscreant, informing him that the top-up recharge needed to be paid on that number. He forced the man to launch his digital payment app, go to the “transfer money to mobile number” section, and enter the mobile number.
When the man was asked why he needed to input the five numbers the fraudster stated in the payment option that it was a step in the top-up recharge process. A short while after he entered the number, his account was debited by Rs 97,411. Assuring the money would be returned the man was told to download a desktop app leading to an additional Rs 49,989 scam
According to a senior police officer, the man realized he was being scammed when he noticed the money was being taken out of his account once again. He hung up the phone, and he filed a complaint with the bank.
Even though the word of not to call random cellphone numbers that appear on phishing websites, some people still contact these numbers and end up falling victim to cyberattacks.
The above underscores how essential is it for one to remain cautious online while resolving online issues. cybercrimes have been increasing with the help of phony service representatives who take advantage of one’s vulnerability. People should take caution and confirm their contact information directly with official sources and lessen his/her frailty to scammers.
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