Thinking of Biryani and ordering it for a quick bite is a wonderful experience. However, for a man, this turned out to be a nightmare. A software employee in Hyderabad did not get the food he had craved for, and also ended up losing Rs 50,000 money.
The man who is a resident of Rahmat Nagar in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad ordered ‘special chicken biryani’ on food delivery app- Zomato. However, the order got misplaced and he got ‘sambar rice’ instead. Infuriated with the service, the victim searched for the customer care contact online to share his grievance.
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A casual Google search threw up a number for Zomato customer care, when in reality, Zomato does not have a customer care number. The fraud “customer care” service was polite to the victim and regretted their bad service. They also convinced him that they would refund the money immediately.
After finding out the customer had a Paytm account, the “customer care executive” shared a link of the QR (quick response) code to be scanned for the refund. As guided, the customer scanned the QR code and realized that instead of the refund amount being credited, Rs 50,000 got debited from his account.
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Hyderabad Police has registered a case against the fraudsters. The ACP said that the victim got deceived by a phishing page that had listed its contact under the guise of Zomato customer care. A case under section 420 of IPC and 66 D of the IT Act (punishment for cheating by impersonation using computer resource) has been registered.
This is a new modus operandi of online fraud that has been prevalent for a few months said the police. Usually, fraudsters make calls pretending to be customer care executives. The QR code scam is on the rise with many cases getting reported. Meanwhile, Zomato had said earlier, “We constantly remind our users via different channels of communication that we do not have a customer care number”.
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“Chat and email are our primary channels of care. While we take every effort to ensure customer safety and security, we also urge our esteemed customers to be vigilant and not share their personal or bank account details with anyone”, added Zomato.
Inputs from News Minute
