Share your online fraud experience

I dont take red flagged calls identofoed by truecaller, but recently received one for checking.
I got called by scammers pretending to bank employee for the famous KYC scam. My account will be blocked, etc...
I asked to send representive to my home for KYC documents collection, I'll not give any details online or even visit branch.
The caller understood that Im not a easy prey, because they used a swear word before hanging up the call.
 
 
I got an sms purporting to be from my bank saying KYC has to be updated or else my account will be locked.

I did not not have to go to the bank. I could just use the attached apk to update the details.

Lol. One month later bank account still works fine
This same scam WhatsApp message has already claimed a victim :grumpy:




I searched for the keyword digital arrest and am surprised this has not been discussed here before.

Its bewildering that educated people are falling for this time and again despite it being in the news so frequently. Latest being a 59 year old senior IT executive losing over 6 crores over a period of several days.

My experience:
Got a SMS from "DHL" informing that there is some update on my courier. I opened the link as I was expecting something.
Then I got the call from DHL call center informing that my parcel to Oman has been seized by customs. I said OK while laughing and that probably flustered the caller as there was an awkward pause and then call got disconnected.

Have you or someone you know been conned online? What was the modus operandi?
Same scam. This time more money stolen

 
Last edited:
What amuses me the most is which IT job is paying them so much and why is their money so readily accessible. I mean if its invested it takes days to make it liquid.
Yeah i had the same thought. Who keeps that much in liquid. Also what I don't get is this crores range. Who agrees to send that much?
 
The recurring pattern I've seen is that high earners aren't the best at protecting their wealth/assets. It just sits in their savings or salary account. No investments, no diversifying.

Not just in news stories, I see this with my relatives. People had crores in their accounts before the lockdown and they did nothing with it. Investing in a high risk fund for five years would've netted them huge gains, but they just couldn't be bothered. Especially when you could literally see into the future of how everything would explode after covid/lockdown.

A uncle asked me what I'd do with 1 crore, my answer was simple: invest in a high risk fund and look at it after 20 years. He thought I'd probably pursue higher studies or start a business but there's no beating a long term investment.

Atleast with my rudimentary knowledge.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Renegade
What amuses me the most is which IT job is paying them so much and why is their money so readily accessible. I mean if its invested it takes days to make it liquid.
I don't think the information in that article is correct. I HIGHLY doubt any IT professional working in India will have that much in liquid funds just sitting around. ToI is known for exaggerating its articles.

Also, at times, I feel these people severely lack basic common sense for falling for such obvious crap, especially journalists and IT professionals. I mean, do they not read the news? Even then - COMMON SENSE. Sometimes I don't even feel bad for them for falling prey to these scammers. They should be demoted at their workplaces :joyful:


I once got a call from a "customs official" who mentioned I was in trouble for illegal activities. I questioned him whether the illegal activity he was referring to was me dating his wife while he was busy scamming people. I promptly got a BKL gaali thrown at me, for good measure. Hung up straight after.
 
Only on a Sunday so far, you get a call from an international number saying.

... This is a notification from TRAI that your service will be suspended today due to abnormal use of your telephone number..

Then you get a choice from a menu to choose 1 for more details or 2 for customer service.

Immediate pickup. I accused them of fraud and told them they would be reported.

Abnormal use of my telephone number :hilarious:
 
Got scammed in the most dumbest possible ways.

1 - OLX scam
I recently started making good money and wanted to upgrade my pc. I bought a Ryzen 5 5500 from OLX for Rs. 6400.
I paid 3000 advance, and the remaining 3400 I paid the next day, as the guy had already booked the package and it was in transit.
God knows why did I trust that guy. I did not even ask for product images or anything, just blindly dealt with him.
He claimed to be a shop owner in Kolkata (Im from Siliguri).
4 days later the package arrived. It was a box of Core i7, I was like okay inside would be my Ryzen 5.
Inside was the intel stock fan, and nothing else.
I called himback, no response, already blocked me and ran away.
He did not even share his real name, I just had his UPI ID, not even his account number, and knew the name of the bank (Jana small finance bank).
I went to my bank to tell the incident, they said you have made the payment on your own, now you are responsible. I went to the Cyber Crime department and filed a FIR. Kept checking there for 3 months, they said that they have traced the account, but that account is not getting any credit money, that they would try to take back. The day I sent the money, all that amount was withdrawn in cash, leaving the account empty.
So yes, that's how I first lost my money ...
((Also while going to the CyberCrime Police Station, i accidentally ran over a red light, paid 500 as bribe, moved on, it was a new place, and was a One Way, others were going, I too went that way with my Scooty, and i was caught again the same day, for going wrong way in a one way road, the Traffic Police asked for a bribe of 500rs, I pleaded, and negotiated to Rs. 400)
Was the worst day + experience of my life...

2 - FB Marketplace
I bought a Power supply for the same pc upgrade series. Coolermaster MWE 850 Fully modular Gold certified PSU with all cables.
Found this guy from Kolkata (again) via Zoukart facebook group. I had a talk with him, on the video call, he showed me the PSU by turning on his pc and showing all works good.
Deal was for Rs. 3500 + shipping. Reason for sale - operation of his dog who had paralyzed limbs (he showed me the dog on the video call too).
When it arrived - PSU had 2 x PCI ports melted, 1 x SATA port melted, 1 x SATA cable melted, 1 x PCI cable melted, and only 4 cables (ATX, EPS, SATA, PCI). Dumb me, I called him and informed all, he said "Wait ill just have a look at the images you sent ...", and blocked me away. This time I had his Full name, Votor card, Account details, I went to file the complain in CyberCrime department again, they said "There are so many websites like Amazon, Flipkart, who the hell buys items from Facebook? You just got scammed last month, and again today ?? Why dont' you buy these items from nearby shops in the city ??" and refused from accepting the complaint.
I kept calling him from different numbers, he blocked them all, the point is that he recognized that it's me before picking the call. The first attempt for call from a new number, it will ring, 2nd attempt - dialed number is busy / switched off. At last he replied to messages from a new number that I used, he said that he wont take the PSU back nor would refund me. I said that I would go and do a Police Complaint, he said "Do whatever you want, my cousin is at the post of an ASI, he is there to protect me, you can't do anything kiddoo"
So this time, with all his documents, I still got scammed (His votor card is with me, it is genuine as I verified it on the official Voters Portal)

Still I had a few more direct deals, for the same pc upgrade, luckily those people were genuine.
After which I started dealing through admins on the fb groups, and since then lifeis going good.
Though will never be able to recover from the trauma I got from the loss of 10k (the bribe amount is endless that i've paid to the traffic policemen)
 
I went to file the complain in CyberCrime department again, they said "There are so many websites like Amazon, Flipkart, who the hell buys items from Facebook? You just got scammed last month, and again today ?? Why dont' you buy these items from nearby shops in the city ??" and refused from accepting the complaint.
Yeah, why buy from such shady places? Even FK & Amazon have crooks on them but you're guaranteed something back if you keep pushing. Here you just lost 10k of your money which you could have used on buying new stuff. Scammers probably share your number to their group saying this guy is an easy mark.
 
If you are not gonna pick their calls, they will come to your house.

WhatsApp Image 2024-12-29 at 08.18.46.jpeg
 
Got scammed. Almost.

My credit card offered me a free Accor membership early this year, Enrolled for it by entering cc details.

Few months later Accor's database is leaked. Some dude in Hong Kong goes out spending about $250 with my card couple of weeks ago.

The credit card (AMEX) company flags and block them immediately. They call me and inform about the transactions to ensure it wasn't me. They replace the card with new number in 3 days.