Mumbai Doctor Loses Rs 1 Lakh in Online Lipstick Scam
A Mumbai-based woman found herself out of Rs 100,000 when she fell victim to a courier delivery scam after ordering lipstick online. Yes, as strange as it sounds, the way this scam works is quite simple. Scammers will contact you, pretending to be delivery agents, and usually present the problem that delivery is not possible, or ask victims for a small cancellation fee, such as 2 or 5 rupees for a package they never ordered. When victims send them money through a malicious link sent by scammers, they suffer huge losses.
According to a TOI report, the woman, who is a Mumbai-based doctor, ordered a lipstick worth Rs 300 from an e-commerce site, but the package never arrived. He received a text message from a courier delivery agent one day that his package had been delivered, but he never received it.
After contacting them, he was assured that it would be delivered once he completed the payment of Rs.2. Without thinking about it, the woman continued to pay the scammers through the link they sent her. And this involved downloading the app first via a link.
While making the payment, he unknowingly reveals his bank details to the fraudsters and thus they were able to pay Rs 1000 in two different transactions of Rs 95,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively. Now a complaint has been lodged at Neruli cyber police station.
How to protect yourself from this scam
Most of the time, when victims are looking for helpline numbers, they look for them on search engines, but these numbers are not to be trusted directly and you should always check before chatting. Second, you should never click on any foreign links you receive from unknown contacts, as they may accidentally install a malicious app on your phone. And yes, you should never share OTP details or sensitive bank details with anyone over phone or in person.
Also, if someone contacts you about canceling a package you don’t remember ordering, hang up immediately and let them know, as they are probably scamming you. Also, no genuine courier delivery requires a “cancellation fee”, so keep these things in mind.
