Online shopping may be gaining prominence in our society but there are some issues which need to be resolved by the e-commerce companies such as the problems which customers face when they have to return a product and get the refund. However, several issues are even bigger and a consumer can be at risk of getting cheated if he is not alert and watchful.
A 25 years old girl from Pune ordered a ring online on November 3, 2018, but after receiving it, she decided to return as it didn’t fit her finger well. She returned the ring and asked for the refund of Rs. 107; however as the refund did not take place in scheduled time limit, she called the customer care.
The executive asked for her card details and she provided the complete information including the OTP that she received and that too, three times. Subsequently, Rs. 1600 were withdrawn by the imposter in 3 transactions.
She filed a complaint with the e-commerce company and was asked to give details of another card so she provided her father’s debit card details. A link was sent on her father’s phone by the fraudsters and they asked her to click it and then switch off the mobile. When the mobile was switched on, Rs. 20,000 were withdrawn.
The girl’s father called the person and asked him about it to which he said that refund would be done the next morning but then Rs. 60,000 were also withdrawn and the next morning, Rs. 181 were withdrawn, leaving account in nil balance.
Father of the girl lodged an FIR against the fraudsters and on February 7, 2019, three people were arrested by the Faraskhana police. Inspector Sambhaji Shirke told TOI that the arrests have been made under Sections 419 and 420 of IPC and provisions of IT Acts.
We request our readers not to share OTP with anyone and make sure that they take the customer care number from the correct website.
