Watch Out For Online Fraud While Searching For Customer Care Numbers On Google

Searching for every kind of information on Google can sometimes not be such a good idea, especially when you get the wrong number and you are swindled of your money within minutes.

ln a report published in Gadgets Now website a Delhi man was duped of Rs 80,000 after he called the  fake customer care number of a prominent courier company,which he got while searching for it on Google. Worried about the delay in delivery of a courier package, the man apparently looked for the customer care number of the courier company on Google to check the delivery status update.

After getting the number and without verifying the authenticity he called the number.

​A fake customer-care executive attended the call and asked him to provide personal details to verify his identity.

They also shared a form on Google Docs to verify the details of the courier delivery, including his name, address, courier ID, etc on a Google Docs form.

Now here comes the worst part which led to the victim losing his money.

The man was told to download TeamViewer QuickSupportwhere the so-called customer care executive would  verify his location for the courier delivery.

After installing TeamViewer QuickSupport, the victim was asked to do a transaction of Rs 2 to verify his bank details.They also assured him that this was necessary in case the courier can’t be delivered and the booking amount needs to be refunded.

The 'customer care' executives convinced him to only use a debit card for the transaction and provide the card details including CVV number.

Now  for those who don't know TeamViewer QuickSupport is a remote desktop app and once a mobile device is linked it will reveal whatever is visible on your mobile screen to the other person who gets access to your desktop.

The scammers then deducted Rs 40,000 and promised to return.But it was too late and they made another transaction of Rs 40,000 and cleared his account.

Since they had the card details of the victim including the CVV and were able to see the OTP SMS on the screen of the victim via TeamViewer QuickSupport, the fraudsters succeeded in deducting Rs 80,000 in total, and stopped taking calls immediately.

In fact, this is not a one-of-a-kind incident, as there are similar incidents of fraud in India to highlight why searching for every kind of information on Google should be done with care and the numbers should be verified before dialling.