I was almost duped of Rs 5k in a Google Pay scam. They gave me death threats too

“Bilal bhai, ye lijiye, apne father se baat kijiye (Bilal bhai, speak to your father; he's on the line),” a stranger said, as he called me on the evening of September 21, 2023 at 7.04 pm. I was on my bike and before I could ask him who he was, he had taken my father on a conference call. 

My father, from the other end of the line, said, “Bilal, ye Imam sahab hai. Inko ek payment receive karna hai Google Pay par. Tum le lo aur inko cash de dena (Bilal, this is Imam Sahab. He urgently needs a payment on Google Pay. You receive it on your number and pay him back later).” 

I said that I was driving and that I would call him once I was free. So, he insisted that it was urgent. I asked my father who this person was, and before he could answer, the stranger removed my father from the conference call and called me again the next moment.

He introduced himself as an acquaintance of my father.

I asked him what he wanted, and he said that there was an urgent payment of his which he wanted me to accept on my Google Pay account, and that he would take it back from me in cash later. He said that he doesn’t have a GPay account, and that the payment was urgent.

Reluctantly, I agreed and asked him to send me the payment on my phone number which is linked to my Google Pay, and I that would pay him in person. 

However, what should ideally have been a 2-minute conversation and a smooth transaction, went on for 20 minutes, and by the end of the conversation, I was convinced that this was a fraudster trying to dupe me.

This is what happened with me

The scammer first told me that he had credited an amount of Rs 25,000 in my bank account that is linked with my GPay number. I made out that something was amiss as I had received the message but the amount did not reflect in my account.

Here's the fake message that he shared, which is similar to the message from the bank when an amount is credited in our account.

Once I told him that the amount wasn't reflecting in my account, he said that his friend had sent me the amount on my Google Pay.

I opened GPay and got a message of Rs 25,000 transfer, on text, but no payment was done.

Here is the text message I received:

I grew suspicious and told him that I could see only the message but no money was credited to my account.

He told me that perhaps there was a technical issue and that I should send him Rs 5,000, after which I was going to receive Rs 10,000 from him. Rs 5,000 was mine, and the other half was the money he paid.

I put my foot down and refused to send him any money, as I was sure that this was a well-coordinated scam.

I told him, “I will not transfer any amount at any cost.”

He said that he knew my father and that I should have trust in him. I said, “Ok, then I will ask my father to talk to you first.”

After listening to this, he turned abusive and began raining expletives. I answered him in the same vein. He then threatened to kill me once I got home.

Once I was home, I asked my father who this person was. He said that he didn’t know him, and that he introduced himself as the local Imam sahab (cleric). 

I made repetitive calls after getting home, but he didn’t pick any, and by midnight, the number was switched off.

The police are helpless

I reached out to the local police station the next day, where I submitted a written complaint to the chowki in-charge of my area. The sub-inspector made a call to a person at the Cyber Cell and asked him to get the details of the number.

However, by evening, when the cops got hold of the history of the SIM card, it didn’t have the owner’s name or location. 

The policeman told me on phone that the location was “unavailable” and that the owner of the SIM was also not reflected. He said that this was a SIM obtained using fake identity and that there are high chances that it was destroyed by then.

“I have arrested a lot of people, and even brought them in for questioning. But it later turns out that the person who has been arrested is actually a beggar and doesn’t even own a mobile; let alone, scamming people,” said the Chowki In-charge.

He said, “Actually, the user and owners of these SIM cards are different. So, the person who does it might be in New Delhi, the SIM might be registered in Kolkata, and the actual owner of the SIM might be in Odisha. Moreover, they destroy the SIM cards within one week of getting one.”

He also said that this makes it very difficult to trace the culprit. 

He added that these crimes have skyrocketed in recent times and I was fortunate that I didn’t lose any money. 

Now, the main point: How do you stay safe from these scammers?

• The first step is to never engage in any online transaction with anyone, unless you are completely aware of it.
• Second, never reveal your account balance to any person on the phone, even if the person claims to be a bank manager.
• Third, always change your GPay or Paytm PIN once in every three months and do not share it with anyone at any cost.
• Finally, never reveal confidential information about your bank transactions to any stranger on the phone.
• If by mistake, you fall prey to any scam, write an application and submit it to the local police station at the earliest. Make sure you register an FIR and take a copy of it from the concerned authorities.
• Remember, if you lose any amount in an online fraud, there's hardly any chance of getting it back.

These GPay scammers exploit people who are non-savvy with technology. So, if you're not unsavvy with tech, pass it on to a parent or grandparent who might be vulnerable to it.