Hyderabad: A 59-year-old resident of Banjara Hills lost Rs 2.49 lakh in the blink of an eye in a courier delivery scam. Believing he was paying some sort of a delivery fee to his courier via a message, the victim was tricked into eventually losing his money.
According to the Hyderabad police, the victim was expecting a DHL delivery. After following up for two days, he received an SMS on December 2, around around 11:30 a.m. from an unknown number, which stated that two delivery attempts to him had failed.
The message also requested a Rs 25 ‘re-delivery charge’ through a provided link. Believing it to be an authentic message from DHL, the victim clicked the link and entered his credit card details. He then received an OTP for the ‘Rs 25’ payment.
However, the moment he authorised it with the OTP, a fraudulent transaction of Rs 2.49 lakh was made from his his card. He then lodged a complaint with the Hyderabad police’s cyber crime station.
The Hyderabad police in a public advisory has also cautioned the public of fraudsters sending fake SMS messages of such ‘failed courier deliveries’ which ask for small ‘re-delivery’ charges. Citizens have been advised to not not click on unknown links sent via SMS or WhatsApp and to Neven enter credit/debit card details, CVV, or OTP on unverified websites.
Cyber frauds can be immediately reported on the 1930 helpline or via the website www.cybercrime.gov.in. In case of any emergency of cyber frauds please call or WhatsApp 8712665171.
