Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (MS)

Mangaluru, Sep 30: Online fraudsters attempted to scam a cake shop owner by pretending to place a cake order and offering to pay via Google Pay. However, the owner's alert wife foiled the attempt.

A stranger, speaking in Hindi, called the owner of a cake shop in Bajpe, introducing himself as a CISF personnel stationed at the international airport in Bajpe. He urgently ordered four kilograms of cake for delivery to the airport and inquired about the cost. The owner quoted Rs 2800.

The caller requested the shop owner to stay on the call while he made the payment through Google Pay. He asked for the owner's Google Pay number and mentioned that someone would be sent to collect the cake. The owner provided his wife's Google Pay number, after which the caller disconnected.

The shop owner's wife soon contacted him, saying she had received a message indicating that Rs 28,000 had been transferred. Shortly afterward, the stranger called back, apologizing for mistakenly sending Rs 28,000 instead of Rs 2800. He claimed the excess amount was intended for medical expenses and requested that Rs 2800 be deducted, with the remainder returned to him. The shop owner agreed.

He then called his wife to relay the situation. She informed him that, aside from the SMS, no money had been credited to her account. When the owner informed the stranger, he insisted that since the message had arrived, the money must have been credited. The owner initiated a conference call with his wife and the stranger, during which the fraudster, sounding distressed, pleaded for the money back, claiming it was urgently needed for medicine. The shop owner's wife, however, disconnected the call, saying she would double-check her account.

Upon checking, the shop owner's wife first received a message from the bank stating that Rs 1 had been credited to her account, followed by a message stating that Rs 28,000 had been credited. However, this second message was sent by the fraudster, not the bank. She quickly informed her husband, who tried to call the stranger back, but the call was abruptly disconnected. Thanks to the quick thinking of the cake shop owner's wife, the online fraudster's attempt was thwarted.