Man trying to purchase liquor loses Rs 3.4L to cybercrooks

BENGALURU: Desperate to pick up a liquor bottle this weekend? Then, don't rush to order online!
Reason: You could become a victim of cyber fraud. A senior police officer told TOI: "A lot of youngsters, especially working professionals, are losing money and sanity trying to get home delivery of liquor without knowing that online sale and delivery of alcohol is prohibited."
The latest to join the bandwagon of victims is a finance company executive, who ended up losing Rs 3.4 lakh on January 14, to online liquor racketeers.
Danush (name changed), 41, from BTM Layout searched for the contact number of the 'Tonique' outlet in Koramangala on the internet, found one, and placed an order over phone. The call receiver collected Danush's credit card details for a payment of Rs 4,065 but ended up siphoning off Rs 3.4 lakh by collecting OTPs citing various reasons.
In his complaint to Begur police, Danush said he dialled the number provided on a fake web page. The receiver introduced himself as 'Tonique' and asked Danush to send him the order details on WhatsApp.
"After I sent the details, the miscreant made a WhatsApp call and asked me to pay the bill amount of Rs 4,065 through a digital payment app. Working in a finance firm and aware of cyberfraud, I said I preferred paying cash on delivery. But he claimed they'd deliver the liquor only after receiving payment," Danush said.
"I offered to make credit card payment and the miscreant told me he was not able to generate a link. He convinced me into parting with my card and CVV details. I got a message that Rs 4,065 had been debited from my card," he narrated.
The miscreant said he needed an OTP to remove Danush's card details from their system. "The OTP message was for Rs 1,76,999. When I asked him about it, he said it was the balance in their account. I shared the OTP and Rs 1,76,999 was debited from my account. The miscreant cited some technical problem and asked me to share one more OTP to refund my money. The OTP was for Rs 1,56,999. Money was again debited from my account. It all happened in 25 minutes," the victim said.
Danush's bank had tried to reach him to verify if he was indeed the one doing the transactions. But he missed the call as he was speaking with the miscreant.