A man has reportedly lost his Rs 5 lakh after he requested assistance from Uber customer care following a Rs 100 tip being charged on top of his cab fare. Now, this situation isn’t as straightforward as it seems because the “customer care" number he dialled was fake.
According to the FIR obtained by IANS, the victim, Pradeep Chowdhary, took a cab to Gurugram. His total fare came out to be Rs 205, but Uber ended up charging him Rs 318—including an additional tip for the driver.
Also Read: This Mumbai Doctor Was Scammed Out Of Rs 1 Lakh After She Ordered A Lipstick Online
Based on the FIR, Chowdhary said that the cab driver told him he could get a refund if he contacts Uber customer care. To do so, he tried to find the customer care number on Google, but this is where things took a sour turn. “The driver suggested I could get a refund by calling customer care. I obtained the number from Google, ‘6289339056,’ which redirected to ‘6294613240,’ and then to Rakesh Mishra at ‘9832459993.’"
After this, the victim was asked to download the ‘Rust Desk app’ from the Google Play Store. For those unaware, Rust Desk is an open-source remote access software that allows another entity to control your device. This is meant for support-related tasks but, as in this case, it could be used for nefarious causes as well. “After that, he asked me to open PayTM and message ‘rfnd 112’ for the refund amount. When questioned about providing my phone number, he claimed it was for account verification," Chowdhary said.
Moments later, the man lost his hard-earned money to scammers.
How Did The Fake Uber Support Number End Up On Google Search?
What most people make the mistake with is blindly believing whatever results show up on search engine results. In Google’s case, it allows users to add details to results, contributing to business pages, and more. Some advanced scammers may even take the help of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to rank their fake support pages.
If people contact those fake numbers or emails, they usually end up talking to scammers and falling into a tricky scam plan.
To be safe from this, never blindly call any number you come across the platform. This could be anything—courier numbers, car workshops, Google support, and, as seen in this case, Uber/Ola support as well. Moreover, ensure that you get in touch with support through the official apps of the respective service you are using. For Uber, specifically, there’s a dedicated support section you can explore to reach the support staff.
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