Hyderabad: Sridhar, a software engineer in a leading multinational corporation, ordered an expensive phone online hoping for a huge discount. He made the payment through a credit card as he was told that this offer applies only to those who would pay in advance. The phone was not delivered for several days.
Shridhar called on the toll-free number from the website to register a complaint to which he received a response that "An error has occurred, the phone is out of stock. Therefore we are unable to send the phone. If you tell us the bank account details, we will return the money." Believing the company, he disclosed the bank account details along with an OTP, but instead of receiving the money he had paid, his entire bank account had been emptied.
Only after filing a complaint with the Cybercrime Police Department, it was found out that the discount was offered by a fake company. Thus, he lost some money in the hopes to get a discount but lost more in a rush to try and retrieve the lost money. Many more such stories of cybercrime have come to light in the past few years.
Growth in Online Culture being used as a weapon: Nowadays online shopping has become a normal activity for everyone and has even expanded to the villages. It won't be an exaggeration to say that food items, groceries, clothing, and electronic items like phones are all available online. Cybercriminals are using this growing online shopping culture as a weapon. These robberies are being conducted differently, and people's bank accounts are being targeted due to their carelessness.
'Discount' Traps: Lower prices attract attention, which makes it easier for cybercriminals to announce fake huge discounts. For example, cybercriminals might put out an advertisement for an expensive phone at half the market price if you purchase it online. These ads keep popping up if you are looking for any information about a phone on your smartphone or computer. Once you click on these pop-ups, they take you to an unfamiliar website, which showcases a lot of offers. You are led to believe that the website has huge amounts of leftover stock and therefore they are selling the devices at much lower prices, in the form of a clearance sale.
These criminals also have a set-up to act as a call centre in case a customer calls to confirm the offer on the website, which further provides the fraudsters with your phone number and convinces people to buy a device. As they avail the offer only to the customers who pay in advance, people make the payment through net banking or a credit/debit card, giving away all their bank account details to the criminals, making them lose their money.
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Looting in the name of Cashbacks: Sometimes, a link is sent to your phone, stating that there's a cashback offer available on your number for the transactions made through your digital wallet. After clicking on the link, a QR code appears on the screen and you are asked to scan the code. You receive a message saying that the money will be deposited in your account, but instead, money gets stolen from your account.
Made-up Call Centers: After placing an order on one of the fake websites, if they do not receive the order, the person's first instinct would always be to call the customer care centre. The fraudsters provide a 'toll-free number' on the website and after calling customer care they manipulate you into providing your bank account details for recovery of your money and you end up getting robbed again.
The 'Fake-Website' Conundrum: Some cybercriminals invest time in creating almost identical replicas of reputed eCommerce sites. Pop-up advertisements are placed online which leads you to these fake websites once you click on them and the fraudsters begin conning you to place orders for multiple products and make payments through online banking to avail multiple offers, leading to you ending up losing your money.
Committing Frauds using Google Docs: The most common form of fraud is deceiving the customers on phone calls, posing as bank employees and asking people to fill out the 'Customer Details' form or their transactions will be stopped. The fraudsters then send a Google Document to the customer through a fake website, similar to the original bank website, asking for their account details including their PIN. Believing it to be a document from the bank, due to the resemblance, customers end up giving their details to the cybercriminals, who suck out all the money from their accounts.
If you are greedy, you will be cheated: Prasad Patibandla, Director of Research and Operations at Centre for Research on Cyber Intelligence and Digital Forensics (CRCIDF), Delhi, says ''Be aware of scams while shopping online. Purchases should be made through reputable sites. Bank account details should not be given under any circumstances. Payment should be made only according to the cost of the item."
He further said, "Check the details after completing the payment process. In case of overcharged amount, immediately complain to the bank. If the item is not received within the specified time, a complaint should be made immediately. If there is no response from the site, contact the police. You should realize that if you are greedy, you will get cheated. Anyone who says that they are giving expensive items at a very low price should be suspected. You should double-check. Otherwise, your pockets will be emptied."
