Kannada actor Upendra Rao and Priyanka Upendra fell prey to a digital scam where fraudsters posing as representatives of a courier company tricked their contacts into transferring money to their accounts.
The scamsters called Priyanka around 10 am who was expecting a delivery from Dubai. The caller posed as the company’s representative and informed her that they were unable to deliver her parcel as they could not find the address. He then instructed her to type and dial a code after which her parcel would be delivered at the earliest.
Priyanka told TOI that she was initially suspicious about it but in the chaos she hurriedly typed and dialled the code, *21*9279291567#, as soon as she typed her iphone was hacked. She initially suspected it was hanging so she took her husband's phone and typed the code from his phone with the same result. A few moments later their house held help and Priyanka used his phone for sending the code. All three phones were hacked and their numbers were forwarded to the hackers. Priyanka told TOI that the scamsters downloaded Whatsapp on their phones and started sending messages to their contacts.
The hackers sent the following message: ‘Hi, needed some help pls.' Once the respective contact replied, the fraudster sent, ‘There will be 55k in your account now? I will return in just 2 hrs. My UPI is not working properly. It's very urgent now.'
Their phone numbers were unreachable making it impossible to call and confirm if they needed the money. "My son, his friends, and others, at least four people, transferred the money after they tried reaching us. My son thought his mother was in some need and transferred the money immediately through UPI," Upendra Rao told TOI.
“The fraudsters are demanding Rs 55,000 from all our contacts, promising to return it within two hours. We have filed a complaint with the police, who assured us they will catch the fraudsters. We urge everyone to be cautious of such scams and try to recover any lost money. Do not send money to anyone without proper verification,” Priyanka said. “Yesterday, I discovered someone had used AI to dub my voice and discussed it with Uppi. The fraudsters might send phishing links and create fake social media accounts. It was my mistake to dial the code.”
Realising the fraud, the couple reported the issue to the cyber helpline 1930, spread awareness through their social media accounts, and alerted the media. They also filed a complaint at Sadashivanagar police station.
“We have taken up the case under the Information Technology Act and have taken measures to freeze money from the fraudster’s account,” a senior police officer told TOI.
(With inputs from TOI)
The scamsters called Priyanka around 10 am who was expecting a delivery from Dubai. The caller posed as the company’s representative and informed her that they were unable to deliver her parcel as they could not find the address. He then instructed her to type and dial a code after which her parcel would be delivered at the earliest.
Priyanka told TOI that she was initially suspicious about it but in the chaos she hurriedly typed and dialled the code, *21*9279291567#, as soon as she typed her iphone was hacked. She initially suspected it was hanging so she took her husband's phone and typed the code from his phone with the same result. A few moments later their house held help and Priyanka used his phone for sending the code. All three phones were hacked and their numbers were forwarded to the hackers. Priyanka told TOI that the scamsters downloaded Whatsapp on their phones and started sending messages to their contacts.
The hackers sent the following message: ‘Hi, needed some help pls.' Once the respective contact replied, the fraudster sent, ‘There will be 55k in your account now? I will return in just 2 hrs. My UPI is not working properly. It's very urgent now.'
Their phone numbers were unreachable making it impossible to call and confirm if they needed the money. "My son, his friends, and others, at least four people, transferred the money after they tried reaching us. My son thought his mother was in some need and transferred the money immediately through UPI," Upendra Rao told TOI.
“The fraudsters are demanding Rs 55,000 from all our contacts, promising to return it within two hours. We have filed a complaint with the police, who assured us they will catch the fraudsters. We urge everyone to be cautious of such scams and try to recover any lost money. Do not send money to anyone without proper verification,” Priyanka said. “Yesterday, I discovered someone had used AI to dub my voice and discussed it with Uppi. The fraudsters might send phishing links and create fake social media accounts. It was my mistake to dial the code.”
Realising the fraud, the couple reported the issue to the cyber helpline 1930, spread awareness through their social media accounts, and alerted the media. They also filed a complaint at Sadashivanagar police station.
“We have taken up the case under the Information Technology Act and have taken measures to freeze money from the fraudster’s account,” a senior police officer told TOI.
(With inputs from TOI)
You may also like
PM Modi thanks Trump for birthday greetings, backs his 'peaceful resolution of Ukraine conflict'
Delhi BJP leaders to join prayers for PM Modi's long life on his birthday tomorrow
FBI 'probing social media posts' which appeared to predict Charlie Kirk murder
DRI continues crackdown on drug trafficking syndicates under 'Operation Weed Out"
Hardly known royal makes ultra rare appearance at Duchess of Kent's funeral
