Woman attempts to return spoilt milk, loses Rs 77k through UPI

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: After an elderly woman from Bengaluru, aged 65, ordered milk online, it turned out to be spoiled.

Later, when she tried to return it, the woman ended up losing Rs 77,000 to a scamster.

The scamster allegedly made her follow a few instructions and entered her UPI pin in her app to steal money from her bank account.

According to the complaint, the woman searched for the platfor m's customer care number online.

Once she got hold of the phone number, she placed a call, after which a man claiming to be the executive of the grocery platform answered it.

The man told her she didn't need to return the milk and promised that she would get her money back, all she had to do was follow a few instructions.

The woman said that she received a WhatsApp message with the UPI ID number 081958. The fraudster requested that she use her digital payment app, to select the "transfer money" option and click the "To Bank/ UPI ID" icon.

The woman did so without realising what he was about to do. The fraudster then made her select the UPI ID option and input the number he had supplied her on WhatsApp when a page opened.

To receive her refund, the woman was instructed to click "pay" and input her UPI PIN after entering the final five digits of her cell phone.

The money was taken out of her account after she entered her PIN, and the fraudster ended the call.

After realising she was duped, the woman contacted cyber helpline 1930 and then complained to the Byatarayanapura police.

"We have taken up the case under the Information Technology Act and measures are taken to freeze the amount from the fraudster's account," a senior police officer said.