Stay safe › Scams
Fake customer-care numbers
You search online for a helpline, call it, and the "agent" asks you to install an app or share a PIN for your refund.
How it works
Your refund is stuck, or your delivery is late, so you search for the company’s helpline. The top result is a scammer’s number. A polite “agent” says they’ll process your refund, then asks you to install a remote-access app, enter your UPI PIN, or scan a QR. Your money goes out instead of coming in.
A real case
Hyderabad police have warned people not to trust customer-care numbers found through web searches. In one reported case, a 60-year-old woman in Secunderabad lost about ₹1.07 lakh after calling a fake Amazon helpline she found online; the caller asked for remote access to her phone.
If it has already happened
- Hang up. Uninstall any screen-sharing app you installed.
- Call your bank to block UPI or cards if you shared any details, and call 1930 if money was taken.
- Report the number on Chakshu and the fake listing to the search or map service.
Protect yourself
- Get support numbers only from the company's official app or website.
- Refunds never need your PIN, OTP or a screen-sharing app.
- For shopping apps, raise complaints inside the app's own help section.
Say it simply
Don't search for helpline numbers. Ask family to save the real ones in your phone.
Where to report
- Cybercrime helpline 1930Money has been taken or a payment was tricked out of you. Call at once: the sooner, the better the chance of freezing it.Call 1930
- Your bank, directlyBlock your card or UPI, and report the transaction. Use the number on your card or the bank's official app, never one from a message.Number on your card
- Chakshu, on Sanchar SaathiReport a suspected fraud call, SMS or WhatsApp message, even if you lost nothing.sancharsaathi.gov.in
- National Cyber Crime Reporting PortalFile a complaint about any cyber fraud, harassment, sextortion or morphed images.cybercrime.gov.in