Bengaluru: A 56-year-old woman in Bengaluru allegedly lost ₹98,000 after attempting to obtain a refund for spoiled curd purchased through Blinkit, with fraudsters reportedly using a fake customer care number and a WhatsApp link to carry out the scam.
The incident took place after the woman, a resident of Vasanth Nagar, ordered groceries on October 17. Upon discovering that the curd packet was spoiled, she searched Google for Blinkit’s customer support number to seek a refund.
According to her complaint, she found two phone numbers online and contacted one of them. The person who answered allegedly sent her a WhatsApp link and instructed her to upload a photograph of the spoiled product. She complied, hoping to resolve the complaint.
Soon afterwards, another unidentified caller contacted her, claiming that the refund was being processed and asking her to check Google Pay. The woman subsequently discovered that ₹98,000 had been debited from her Bank of Baroda account. Police said the transactions occurred between 3:15 pm and 3:16 pm, within approximately one minute.
The complaint does not establish exactly how the accused accessed or transferred the money. The woman approached Bengaluru’s Central Cyber Economic and Narcotics (CEN) police station on October 23. A case has been registered under provisions relating to cheating and impersonation, and investigators are examining the phone numbers and link allegedly used in the fraud.
A similar incident was reported in Bengaluru in March, when a 65-year-old woman allegedly lost ₹77,000 while attempting to return spoiled milk purchased online.
Consumers are advised to raise complaints through the official Blinkit app or website rather than contacting unverified numbers found through online searches. Suspicious WhatsApp links should be avoided, and users must never share OTPs, banking credentials or UPI PINs with unknown callers.
Anyone who suspects cyber fraud should contact their bank immediately and report the incident through India’s cybercrime helpline at 1930 or the official portal, cybercrime.gov.in.
