JOIN USBig Mishra Pedha latest to be hit by cyber scam
At least four Bengalureans have been scammed after they called a fake number listed for Big Mishra Pedha, Karnataka’s iconic sweet brand, on Google.
The cases pertain to their outlet in Jayanagar, 4th Block, and occurred in a span of a week.
Rithik Lunker, who works in the purchase and marketing department of the company, headquartered in Hubballi, said they have reported the scam to Google and are awaiting action.
Pavan Patil, manager of the targetted outlet, said, “When we approached the police in Jayanagar, they told us it is the fault of customers who share their OTPs”.
The company plans to take up the problem with the police commissioner of Hubballi-Dharwad “to block the number and UPI account”.
Meanwhile, it has asked all its outlets to display information that people should make online purchases only on the official website (bigmishra.com). “We have spotted five-six fake websites in our name,” Rithik said.
Tonique heist
The scam comes after news broke that over 50 customers of Tonique, a leading liquor store, from Bengaluru and Hyderabad had fallen for a similar fraud since 2020 — one lost Rs 4.5 lakh.
Modus operandi
A regular at Big Mishra Pedha, Jayanagar, Sheefa Noorain says she lost about Rs 11,600 while ordering kachori masala and pao bhaji worth all of Rs 90 on Tuesday night. The medical student hasn’t filed a police complaint as she isn’t hopeful she will get her money back.
She found the number on Google, placed the order and paid Rs 90 via UPI to the impersonator, a man. He called her on WhatsApp, “possibly to avoid call recording”, sent her a QR code to generate the bill and asked her to enter the last four digits of her mobile number — 5792. “I argued that Rs 5,792 would get deducted but he persisted and I agreed. When the money got deducted, he assured me of a refund. He asked me to try again and I lost another Rs 5,792. Then he blocked my number. I rushed to the outlet to learn I was not the only one to be scammed,” she shared.
Ameen E Mudassar lost Rs 880 when he tried ordering four boxes of Dharwad pedhas ahead of his flight to Nagpur on Saturday. When the Ilyas Nagar resident looked up Google for the nearest Big Mishra Pedha outlet, the Jayanagar branch showed up. Calls followed but unlike Sheefa, he was asked to pay just the bill amount.
He realised the con when the Dunzo delivery agent he had booked called Ameen to inform that “the payment of Rs 1,200 was pending”. “He handed the phone to a man on the counter, who told me about the scam,” said Ameen, who runs a career guidance company.
About Google listings
Kiruba Karan of Digital Endeavour, a Google-oriented services company, says Google verifies listed locations by sending a postcard, over video calls, or by crowdsourced reviews. But a lot of unverified listings exist because anybody with a Gmail ID can create it, he said. Scammers get around “by siphoning leads or redirecting traffic by ‘suggesting an edit’ in Google Maps to tweak account details, including the website URL,” says Shankar Bhaskaran, MD, India, MetricStream, which offers software solutions to manage both cyber risk and business risk. To secure the Business Profile listing, ensure the business owner’s email address is set as primary, limit access by enabling two-factor authentication, and regularly monitor edits, fake reviews and malicious content, Shankar adds.
Such scams on rise, says cop
Google Search-related fraud is on the rise, Santosh Ram of Bengaluru’s cybercrime department told Metrolife.
“We have arrested eight people in three cases related to fraud committed using 35 fake websites of VRL Logistics. We have also registered two such cases on behalf of Gati (another transport company),” he said. Bengaluru is a major victim because “people migrate in and out often and look up movers and packers online,” he added.
Some safe online practices
*Look up contacts of banks on official websites — Nodal numbers mostly start from 1800.
*Read the URL carefully — Does it start from https? Are there multiple sites with similar names? If it mentions bit.ly (used for shortening URLs), add + at the end to see the full URL.
*Home delivery of liquor is not permitted.
*Use established platforms like Zomato, Swiggy, Amazon and Flipkart for online delivery of products.
*Verify contacts listed on marketplaces such as OLX and Quikr.
*Don’t share OTPs with anyone.
*Companies can report fake listings to Google or through the police. Sometimes, Google asks for court orders to take down fake listings. Look up Google’s Business Redressal Complaint Form in the Support section.