Cyber cons hack Lucknow man’s phone, use credit card to buy stuff on grocery app

LUCKNOW: A phone call was all it took for cyber fraudsters to allegedly hack a Sarojininagar resident's mobile phone and siphon off Rs1.82 lakh from his credit card, routing the money through an online grocery delivery app and placing orders within minutes, police said.According to an FIR registered on Saturday at Sarojininagar police station, the incident occurred on Jan 16.The complainant, 34-year-old Chirag Budhiraja said he received a call from an unknown number. The caller did not speak and disconnected abruptly."Minutes later, Budhiraja's phone began flooding with OTP alerts. Soon after, he received a message stating that Rs1,72,687 was debited from his credit card for purchases made on the Zepto app. An additional Rs10,000 was also transferred from the same credit card into the app's wallet without his consent," the FIR read.When Budhiraja accessed the app, he discovered that the order was placed from Kolkata, even though he was in Lucknow. Police said the groceries were delivered to one Sumit Kumar in New Town, Kolkata.Budhiraja rushed to Krishnanagar police station, blocked all bank cards and lodged a complaint on cybercrime helpline 1930. Sarajoninagar SHO Rajdeo Ram Prajapati said a probe was initiated.