BENGALURU: As dengue cases rise, more people are seeking to service their RO (reverse osmosis) units to ensure clean water. Cyberfraudsters, however, are exploiting this demand by posing as RO service providers. After receiving numerous complaints, the city police have flagged this as a new trend in online scam and warned the public against making any advance online payments.
A police officer told TNIE that approximately 100 such complaints from different parts of the city have been received.
Another senior police officer said, “The caller typically claims that the water purifier needs servicing or a part replacement, creating a false sense of urgency. As most branded companies regularly call to offer services every six months, people are falling prey to the scam, mistaking them to be genuine calls.”
In some cases, fraudsters would already possess information about individuals who have inquired about the service, enabling them to call back and make the scam appear genuine, the officer added.
Fraudsters schedule a service visit and demand an advance fee for the appointment or for replacing parts. Though the amount they collect is typically low, it provides the fraudsters with access to some sensitive information, the officer said, and added that they use these details to either set up a mule account or target the same individual again for future scams.
The officer said that in some instances, a person shows up to service the unit, tampers with the machine to aggravate issues or installs substandard parts, only to extort more money from their victims. In most cases reported so far, nobody arrived.
City Police Commissioner B Dayananda cautioned the public, saying there has been an increase in fraudulent calls offering RO services. The senior officer advised the public to verify service calls thoroughly and avoid making hasty payments.