Who would have thought that the pursuit of mere cashback could transform into a nightmare for a Bengaluru shopkeeper? In an alleged scam, a 49-year-old man named Suresh M, proprietor of a condiments shop in the Hosapalya area, found himself losing a staggering Rs. 95,000. As reported by the Times of India, Suresh encountered an individual who claimed to represent a digital payment app and offered him a loan.
“I told him I don’t need it. Then he asked if I was getting cashback for Paytm transactions. I told him I wasn’t getting it for almost a year now,” shared Suresh with TOI. The visitor then proposed adjusting the settings on Suresh’s Paytm account to enable him to receive Rs. 150 cashback for every transaction of Rs. 2,500. In order to activate this supposed cashback offer, Suresh was asked to pay Re.1 to the individual. “I paid Re 1 but didn’t get any cashback offer message. On the miscreant’s suggestion, I paid Re 1 two more times but didn’t get any cashback activation message,” recounted Suresh.
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Narrating the incident, Suresh mentioned that the scammer, a 28-year-old individual not proficient in Kannada, took possession of his phone under the guise of activating the cashback offer. The scammer assured him that the activation would take a few hours and left. However, upon retrieving his phone, Suresh discovered the absence of an internet connection. Seeking assistance from a nearby shopkeeper, he learned that his mobile data had been turned off.
“The miscreant took the phone from me on the pretext of activating the cashback offer and returned it. He said it would get activated in a couple of hours and left. After some time, I noticed there was no internet connection on my phone. I took the phone to a nearby mobile service centre.”
Upon turning on the mobile data, Suresh received a message indicating that Rs. 95,000 had been debited from his account. “It was only then I realised that the miscreant had made me pay Re. 1 thrice to observe my PIN and had siphoned off money,” he lamented.
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Subsequently, Suresh lodged a complaint with the Bandepalya police station, leading to the registration of a case under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.
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