South Goa police stations report sharp spike in phishing scams
While faceless cyber criminals have managed to cheat naïve citizens of lakhs of rupees by inducing them with various promises, the police warn people to stop sharing their banking details, and be wary of schemes that are too good to be true
Team Herald
MARGAO: With most people switching to digital payments and online banking, even in rural areas, South Goa district has witnessed a disturbing trend of cheating cases, where the perpetrators have identified and baited their victims over the phone or via social media, cheating them of crores of rupees. A Benaulim resident received a text message, informing her of a pending electricity bill. The texter asked the woman to first pay Rs 10 to check the transaction, and sent her a link to open. After opening the link, the woman found that Rs 75,0571 was deducted from her account.
In another case, an unknown caller directed a resident from Sernabatim to install an app, promising to pay him a large sum of money. He then convinced him to part with Rs 40,000 in order to receive the payout, and was never heard from again.
A resident of Comba, Margao, contacted a mobile number to make enquiries regarding the delayed delivery of a parcel of clothes he had purchased. He was routed to another phone number and induced to transfer Rs 2 on a link sent to him, and share his OTP (one time password). The next thing he knew, two…
