BENGALURU: A Pune man’s ride in the city cost him Rs 1.15 lakh. It's obviously not the cab fare, but the price he paid for carelessly revealing his phone password to the cab driver.
The driver, who noticed the password, stole the phone when the customer stopped midway to relieve himself and transferred Rs 1.15 lakh into his account. Later, posing as a police officer, the driver threatened to share the customer’s private photos if more money was not paid.
The victim, Vineet Priyadarshi (39), stated in his police complaint that he hired a cab around 7 pm on August 17 from Sathanur village to Marathahalli. The cab aggregator app mentioned the cab driver’s name as John, but he was picked up by Sushanth SH.
The driver stopped the vehicle midway without completing the journey and collected Rs 591 via online payment. After repeated requests, he took the victim towards Bagalur.
When Vineet went to relieve himself, leaving his mobile phone charging in the cab, the driver fled from the spot. The driver, who had observed the phone’s unlock pattern and UPI PIN as Vineet was sitting next to him, transferred Rs 1.15 lakh through online transactions and IMPS from two bank accounts.
Vineet did not file a complaint immediately as he was heading to Pune the same night. He raised the issue through cyberhelpline 1930 and filed an online complaint on KSP app.
A week later, the accused, impersonating himself as a policeman, called Vineet and demanded Rs 10,000 through a QR code he had sent. He also threatened to release Vineet’s personal photos and data on social media. Vineet immediately blocked his phone through the CEIR portal and approached the Bagalur police to file the complaint on September 4.
The police said that a case of theft and cheating under IT Act has been registered. The driver is said to have fled to another location, and efforts are on to trace him.