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Journalism of Courage
Seeking help from Google for a customer care number of a logistics firm proved to be costly for a former BJP candidate for MLA elections as he has been allegedly defrauded of Rs 1.92 lakh by cybercriminals.
The Chandigarh Cyber Crime Police has registered a case on the complaint of the former BJP candidate for MLA elections, Kamal Deep Singh, who was duped of Rs 1,92,348 through unauthorised transactions carried out using his HDFC credit card.
The matter came to light after the complainant attempted to raise a grievance about being overcharged by an Ekart delivery agent and ended up contacting a fake customer care number he found on Google.
According to the complaint, Singh had placed an online order on Myntra, which was delivered on October 18 through Ekart on a cash-on-delivery basis. The delivery agent allegedly overcharged him Rs 500, demanding Rs 5,504 while the actual bill was Rs 5,004. The next day, when another order was delivered by a different delivery boy, Singh mentioned the discrepancy. The second agent suggested lodging an online complaint with Ekart.
In an attempt to do so, Singh searched for Ekart’s customer care number online and dialled a number, 8002081888, which appeared in the search results. The person on the call assured him that the excess amount would be refunded and said that a senior executive would return the call. Shortly after, he received a call from 7505730663. The caller, identifying himself as a senior executive of Ekart, kept him engaged for 10–12 minutes under the pretext of processing the refund. He then asked for a UPI ID or a mobile number linked to Singh’s bank account.
The complainant provided an alternate mobile number linked to his HDFC Bank account and credit card. While still on the call, he began receiving multiple transaction alerts but was unable to disconnect the call. By the time the call ended, four unauthorised transactions amounting to Rs 1,92,348 had been made on Flipkart using his credit card.
Singh immediately contacted the HDFC helpline, blocked his card, and lodged a complaint with the national cybercrime helpline 1930.
Based on his written complaint, the Cyber Crime Police registered an FIR under relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against unknown fraudsters.
Police said that investigation is underway to trace the perpetrators and warned citizens against relying on customer care numbers found through random online searches.
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