Navi Mumbai professor conned of Rs 50,000 in bid to get refund from shopping site

NAVI MUMBAI: A 30-year-old lady professor at a Chembur polytechnic from Koparkhairane was cheated of nearly Rs 50,000 by a fraudster on November 26 and 27. The fraudster obtained her debit card details and transferred the sum to another bank account in West Bengal after she called the customer care helpline of an online shopping site.

The victim had ordered a sewing machine and facial hair remover, the latter of which was not delivered, so she called a helpline listed on Google.

She lodged a complaint with Navi Mumbai cyber crime cell in Belapur. The cyber crime staff registered an FIR on Thursday. An offence was registered under Sections 419 and 420 of Indian Penal Code, along with Section 66 (c) and 66 (d) of Information Technology Act.

Vaishali Rajeshirke stated that she purchased a sewing machine and facial hair remover from an online site on November 8. She made an online payment using her card. When she was given only the sewing machine, despite paying for both, she googled and found the customer care helpline on November 26. She found a link in which the number was mentioned. When she dialled that number, the person claimed her order for the facial hair remover was cancelled. She asked the person how to get a refund. When she told him that she had paid using her card, he told her the payment cannot to refunded to that bank and asked for another account, which she did. The fraudster then asked her for the registered mobile number and three-digit pin behind her card, which she revealed. She also shared the OTP she got on her registered number.

He told her the payment will be refunded in 3-4 hours and disconnected the call. The next day, on November 27, four transactions were carried out between 7.35am and 7.41am and Rs 49,997 was transferred to an account in West Bengal. She immediately informed her bank’s customer care about the fraudulent transaction and got her card blocked. Thereafter, she complained to the cyber crime cell in Belapur and got the fraudster’s bank account frozen, but he had already withdrawn the cash.