PUNE: Following the number of cybercrime cases related to the digital wallets, officials of the cybercrime police station have appealed to people to understand the wallet completely before using the same.
In the past few months, many people are been scammed by the fraudsters as they were unaware of the ways to use digital wallets. A 40-year-old man from Warje was a recent victim of one such fraud case. Officials of Warje police said that the fraudster pretending to be a customer approached the victim and showed interest in buying five guitars. The fraudster then told the victim that he would settle the payment through ‘Google Pay’ mobile application. As the victim was unaware of the ways to use the wallet, the fraudster was able to withdraw Rs 30,000 form the victim’s account.
In another case, a Kothrud-based businessman was cheated to the tune of Rs 80,000 by an unidentified person. As per information shared by officials of Kothrud police station, the incident took place on August 21. The Kothrud police said that the victim was approached by the fraudster who expressed interest in buying engine oil worth Rs 52, 000.
The fraudster then asked the victim to accept payment through PhonePe application. The fraudster asked the victim to accept his requests and Rs 20,000 was debited from the victim’s account four times.
Speaking on the ongoing cases of cheating by fraudsters using a mobile wallet, Police Inspector Jayram Paigude said, “No doubt mobile wallets are beneficial. However, people should be alert while using these digital wallets. We have observed that the fraudsters will ask whether the victim has payment options as ‘Google Pay’ or ‘PhonePe’ or any other mode. Once the fraudster is aware that the victim does not have the payment option, he will force the victim to download the mobile application and would later ask the victim to click on links. The victim is unaware that rather receiving the money he is sending money to the fraudster,” added Paigude.
Speaking on the different ways fraudsters use to scam people, cyber expert Anil Raj of Cybervault Securities Solutions Private Limited said that fraudsters are smart enough to track gullible people who then turn to be victims in such cases.
“People have to be responsible and learn such systems to keep themselves aware. The government and corporates should also take initiative to make a strong digital ecosystem so that people do not fall prey to such frauds,” added Raj.
