Woman's Attempt To Return Spoiled Milk Results In Rs 77K Loss In Cybercrime Incident

They say there's no use crying over spilled milk, but if the milk is spoiled and you end up losing over Rs 77k for it, well then your crying may be justified. That is exactly what happened to a woman from Bengaluru who received spoiled milk but when she wanted to return it, she lost Rs 77,000, in yet another cybercrime incident.

Fraudster disguised as company executive

Sophia, a 65-year-old resident of Mysuru Road in Karnataka, is a regular customer of an online milk delivery service. On March 18, 2024, after discovering that the milk she received was spoiled, she decided to initiate a return process.

Sophia searched for the platform's customer service number online and placed a call. The individual who answered identified himself as a company executive.?

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He assured her that there was no need to return the spoiled milk and instead promised a refund of the amount.

Subsequently, he proceeded to explain the steps Sophia needed to follow in order to receive her refund

Scammer coerces unwary victim into payment??

The man informed her that she would receive a WhatsApp message containing a UPI ID number, 081958.

Following this, he instructed her to navigate to the 'transfer money' option within her digital payment app (PhonePe) and click on the 'To Bank/UPI ID' icon.?

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Unaware of his intentions, Sophia complied with his directions.?

Subsequently, a page appeared, and the scammer prompted her to click on the UPI ID option and input the number sent via WhatsApp.

After entering the last five digits of her mobile number, Sophia was instructed to click on 'pay' and input her UPI PIN to receive the refund.?

Upon entering her PIN, the funds were debited from her account, and the fraudster abruptly ended the call.

Cyber helpline contacted

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It was only at this point that Sophia realised she had been deceived, prompting her to contact the cyber helpline at 1930 before filing a complaint with the Byatarayanapura police.?

The case was pursued under the Information Technology Act, and efforts were made to freeze the funds in the fraudster's account.

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