GUWAHATI: In a shocking phone scam incident, Surabhi Sharma, a resident of Guwahati was cheated after she tried to book a table at Mocha, a popular cafe in the city. Around Rs. 23,000 was fraudulently withdrawn from her account when she called the cafe’s number, as listed on Google (8927660407).
Talking to G Plus, Sharma said “I found the number on Google, which read that it was of Mocha, Guwahati. After they received the call, they asked me to transfer Rs. 10 through Google Pay and asked me to share my UPI ID as a part of an advance towards booking the table. I trusted them as their number was registered on Google. In a short while, I received a message that Rs 23,000 was deducted from my account in three instalments of Rs. 10,000, twice and Rs. 3,000 the third time.”
Authorities at Mocha Guwahati said that they have registered a complaint along with the victim at the Bhangagarh Police Station. They added that around three similar cases have been reported so far and thus they had posted a disclaimer across their social media handles earler, asking the public to be aware of the fraudulent number (8927660407) which was listed on Google as Mocha’s Customer Care number.
It is to be mentioned that in 2017, a similar incident had happened where customers were cheated after placing order at a fraudulent number of KFC Lachit Nagar outlet available on Google listings.
Speaking to G Plus, T. Sarkar, a Brand Manager at a local creative agency said, “Business institution and outlets which have social presence should keep all the contact numbers on the internet updated, otherwise there is a risk of losing potential customers and business not to mention the damage to the brand's reputation.”