Bengaluru doctor loses Rs 99,000 in fake customer care scam

Bengaluru: A 59-year-old doctor allegedly lost Rs 99,000 to cyber fraudsters while trying to contact a taxi aggregator's customer care number to recover an excess payment made while booking an autorickshaw.

According to her complaint, the incident took place on the night of October 27, when she booked an auto through the company's app and paid the fare online. She later noticed that the amount deducted was higher than the actual fare and decided to seek a refund.

Unable to find the customer care contact within the app, she searched for the company's helpline number online. She found a number listed on a webpage and attempted to call it, but received no response.

The woman subsequently received a WhatsApp message from an unidentified person claiming to represent the taxi aggregator. After she explained the excess payment, the caller allegedly instructed her to install an application named "Customer Support 24x7", claiming it was required to process the refund.

Trusting the person’s claim, she downloaded the application and followed the instructions. However, instead of receiving the refund, she later discovered that Rs 99,000 had been debited from her bank account through PhonePe.

The doctor, a resident of Kacharakanahalli in Bengaluru's HRBR Layout, approached the police after discovering the unauthorised transaction. The incident highlights how fraudsters exploit online searches for customer care numbers and pose as company representatives to gain access to victims' financial accounts, TOI reported.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that a 38-year-old senior chemist working at a company in Mangaluru allegedly lost Rs 1,18,707 in an online fraud after clicking on a malicious Android Package Kit (APK) link sent through WhatsApp under the pretext of tracking a chemical order for his company.