Online fraud: IIT-B Phd student loses `26,000
A 25-year-old woman pursuing her post graduate degree from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology - Bombay (IIT-B) became the latest victim of online fraud.
The woman has lost Rs26,000 while seeking refund of a pizza, she ordered a few days ago. She has lodged a First Information Report (FIR) at the Powai police station against the unknown accused.
According to the Powai police, the victim ordered a pizza through Zomato’s online food delivery app on October 27. When she opened the box, she found that the pizza was rotten. The next day, she complained on the official website of the app, but did not receive a response in the next 3-4 days. Then, she began to search for their complaint number online.
The victim then called on a mobile number she found online. The person, who answered her phone call, claimed he was talking from the official app. Then, she complained to him about receiving the rotten pizza.
The man on the other side assured that her billing amount would be refunded. He asked her about the online payment account details and her mobile number linked to the digital payment app. When the woman told him her linked mobile phone, he said there was a technical issue in refunding the money via the same mode (GooglePay) she had used to make the payment. He asked her if she used any other online payment app. She gave him the ID of the other account (Paytm) and her mobile number linked to the account. He told her that she would soon receive her refund and hung the phone.
A short while later, she received two messages of withdrawals of Rs8,200 and Rs17,800 from her two accounts. She realised that she was defrauded and dialled the banks' customer care numbers and closed her the accounts. Then, the victim visited the Powai police station and lodged a case of cheating and under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act against the unknown accused.