Beware of IVR trap: Bengaluru residents lose money in back-to-back phone scams

Kadugodi police in eastern Bengaluru have received two back-to-back complaints about citizens losing money through phone calls.

In the first incident, Harshavardhana, a resident of Balajiga Street, Kadugodi, lost Rs 60,000 from his MobiKwik wallet on June 22 after receiving an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) call, ostensibly from the fintech company.

The computerised voice claimed that his account was accessed by someone else, and asked him to type the OTP he would receive on the dial pad while being on call. Harshavardhana fell for the trap and did as told. Later, the voice assured to block his account soon.

The next morning, he woke up to 12 messages that said Rs 5,000 had been debited from his MobiKwik wallet, adding up to Rs 60,000.

Harshavardhana said he immediately wrote an e-mail to MobiKwik after seeing the messages. They replied late and asked him to file a complaint and submit the FIR copy.

“I was careful about such spam calls and messages, but I was convinced this time as the call was from an IVR number,” he told DH.

Kadugodi police have filed an FIR under the IT Act 2000 and IPC Section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property).

Fake Bescom call

In the second incident, a 60-year-old resident of Kannamangala lost Rs 53,545 to a fake message and a call.

The victim had received a message in the name of Bescom, saying he hadn’t paid the electricity bill and that the power supply to his home would be disconnected.

The message had a phone number for queries. The victim dialled and gave details. Later, he found Rs 53,500 debited from his account.

Kadugodi police have filed an FIR under IPC sections 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 420.

A similar complaint was registered at the Kodigehalli police station a few days ago.

A well-placed source lamented that people were still falling for such traps even though police had conducted multiple awareness programmes.