Ludhiana: Don’t look for and call numbers posted on Google search or you may lose money. Contact numbers available on Google may be used by cyber criminals to dupe people, say experts.
According to cyber experts, when people use a website or an application, they give access to their information, mobile contacts and location. Cyber fraudsters manage to access this information and use it to dupe people.
On Sunday, a similar incident occurred with the TOI reporter when she searched for the number of a food joint on Google. She called on the number available online but there was no answer. Minutes later, she received a call from an unknown number with the caller claiming to be from the same food joint. The caller asked for the order and insisted that she pay online through a link. He also refused to accept cash on delivery and was unable to pronounce names of food items properly, usually a dead giveaway in such cases.
Similar cases have been reported in the city for the past some time. On January 4, Tibba Road resident Rahul Sharma lost Rs 1.89 lakh to online fraudsters who posed as customer care agents of an e-wallet company.
Sharma, a labourer, stated that on November 14, 2020, he recharged his mobile phone for Rs 219 using mobile phone application, Phone Pe. The money was deducted twice from his account. He searched for the mobile number of Phone Pe customer care on Google. He called the number he found but no one answered.
The next day, he received a call from an unidentified number. The caller introduced himself as an executive of the application and made him dial some code on the application. As he entered the numbers, Rs 1.89 lakh were debited from his bank account, which was linked with the application.
The cyber cell of Ludhiana police managed to trace the accused, identified as Antar Singh of Madhya Pradesh, Ambarasu Nachimuthu, Ezhilarasi Vadizhagan, S Varadarajan, residents of Tamil Nadu, Akash Sonkar of Howrah, West Bengal, and Alijan S K of Murshidabad, West Bengal.
Police investigation revealed that the money debited from Rahul Sharma’s account was further transferred to the accounts of these accused. However, police have not been able to nab them.
Additional deputy commissioner of police (investigation), who is also heading the cyber cell of Ludhiana police, Rupinder Kaur Bhatti said, “People should always search for contacts at the websites of companies and not on Google. Besides, people should be alert if the caller is refusing cash payment and is forcing to make online payment. They are frauds as genuine companies would never force online payments.”
The ADCP added, “We have traced a few people through the bank account they used to transfer the money. However, in several cases, it has been found that the accused got bank accounts opened with forged IDs or on the ID proofs of innocent people. Being alert is the only way to escape such frauds.”
Alert cops ASAP
Police officials said in case of any cyber fraud, the victim must inform the police and the respective bank in which they have this account. People can also approach Ludhiana police on its official Twitter handle, Facebook account or on e-mail cp.ldh.police@punjab.gov.in for immediate response.