As liquor shops in Telangana continue to remain shut due to the COVID-19 lockdown, some fraudsters are duping gullible people by promising door delivery of liquor.
After such incidents came to light under the limits of the Cyberabad police commissionerate, authorities have cautioned people against falling in the trap of such fraudsters.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crimes) Rohini Priyadarshini, tech-savvy criminals are using Google search options and siphoning off money from the gullible people promising home delivery of liquor.
In some cases that have come to light, cybercriminals uploaded their contact numbers as those of small neighbourhood liquor shops on Google, offering doorstep delivery to callers and demanding digital payment. After the payments are made, they are neither delivering the orders nor receiving calls, the police said.
The advisory was issued after an accountant at a private firm lost Rs 92,000 to online fraudsters while trying to buy liquor after they lured him to make payment on the promise of delivering it to his home during the lockdown period.
Police said that the man searched for liquor sale on an online classifieds company and came across the mobile number of a popular liquor store. However, the number belonged to the cyber fraudsters.
They said the man ordered one bottle of liquor and was told it would cost Rs 1.600 and that he should make the payment with a debit card. He also revealed his debit card number, CVV and later shared the OTP with the fraudster. They convinced him to share five more OTPs and in the process the accountant lost a total of Rs 92,000, police said.
The accountant later filed a complaint with the cyber crime police, which registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Information Technology (IT) Act.
In the wake of the spread of coronavirus pandemic, the state government has suspended the sale of liquor across the state. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao last week ruled out allowing sale of liquor during the lockdown period.
Some states are allowing door delivery of liquor but the Chief Minister said there was no question of allowing sale of liquor in any form in Telangana.