A man, charged with an extra Rs 100 for an Uber trip, fell victim to deception when he reportedly sought assistance through a customer care number that appeared in Google search results. The number listed was reportedly fake, leading to him losing over Rs five lakh to online scam.
According to the FIR accessed by news agency IANS, the victim, identified as Pradeep Chowdhary, residing in SJ Enclave, took a cab to Gurugram for Rs 205, but Uber charged him Rs 318. In his complaint, Chowdhary said: “The driver suggested I could get a refund by calling customer care. I obtained the number from Google, ‘6289339056,’ which redirected to ‘6294613240,’ and then to Rakesh Mishra at ‘9832459993.’”
“Subsequently, he instructed me to download the ‘Rust Desk app’ from the Google Play Store. After that, he asked me to open PayTM and message ‘rfnd 112’ for the refund amount. When questioned about providing my phone number, he claimed it was for account verification,” Chowdhary added.
“Initially, Rs 83,760 was transferred to Atul Kumar, followed by four more transactions of Rs four lakhs, Rs 20,012, Rs 49,101 and other. Three transactions were through PayTM and one via PNB Bank, as per the complainant. A senior police official told the news agency that they have filed an FIR under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code and section 66D of the Information Technology Act, with an ongoing investigation.
How to contact Uber India support
Incidentally, when TOI Tech tried to search Uber’s customer care numbers in India, the first result that appeared was Uber’s official website. The link that showed is genuine and clearly tells users how to contact Uber support in India. Here are the steps given on Uber’s website:
* Tap on your profile on the screen and go to Help.
* If you want to update the driver rating, please tap on the Change star rating box.
* Tap on the Help with a trip option.
* Tap on the concerned trip under the Choose a trip section.
* In the Trip details section, scroll and tap on the Provide Driver Feedback option.
* Select the issue you want to raise from the pre-populated options. You can also tap More options for the list of other issues.
How scammers alter Google search results
Google allows users to contribute information to search results, which can lead to scammers replacing official business phone numbers. They may do this by contributing information to a business’s page by acting as that business online. Until someone reports or realises that the phone number is incorrect, the false number is likely to remain on the Google business page.
According to the FIR accessed by news agency IANS, the victim, identified as Pradeep Chowdhary, residing in SJ Enclave, took a cab to Gurugram for Rs 205, but Uber charged him Rs 318. In his complaint, Chowdhary said: “The driver suggested I could get a refund by calling customer care. I obtained the number from Google, ‘6289339056,’ which redirected to ‘6294613240,’ and then to Rakesh Mishra at ‘9832459993.’”
“Subsequently, he instructed me to download the ‘Rust Desk app’ from the Google Play Store. After that, he asked me to open PayTM and message ‘rfnd 112’ for the refund amount. When questioned about providing my phone number, he claimed it was for account verification,” Chowdhary added.
“Initially, Rs 83,760 was transferred to Atul Kumar, followed by four more transactions of Rs four lakhs, Rs 20,012, Rs 49,101 and other. Three transactions were through PayTM and one via PNB Bank, as per the complainant. A senior police official told the news agency that they have filed an FIR under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code and section 66D of the Information Technology Act, with an ongoing investigation.
How to contact Uber India support
Incidentally, when TOI Tech tried to search Uber’s customer care numbers in India, the first result that appeared was Uber’s official website. The link that showed is genuine and clearly tells users how to contact Uber support in India. Here are the steps given on Uber’s website:
* Tap on your profile on the screen and go to Help.
* If you want to update the driver rating, please tap on the Change star rating box.
* Tap on the Help with a trip option.
* Tap on the concerned trip under the Choose a trip section.
* In the Trip details section, scroll and tap on the Provide Driver Feedback option.
* Select the issue you want to raise from the pre-populated options. You can also tap More options for the list of other issues.
How scammers alter Google search results
Google allows users to contribute information to search results, which can lead to scammers replacing official business phone numbers. They may do this by contributing information to a business’s page by acting as that business online. Until someone reports or realises that the phone number is incorrect, the false number is likely to remain on the Google business page.
