80-year-old Indian man loses ₹3 lakh after calling fake bank manager number found in Google search results

Summary

An 80-year-old man from Udupi, India, lost over Rs 3 lakh from his savings account after calling a fraudulent number he found through a Google search for his bank manager’s contact. The victim, who intended to withdraw Rs 5 lakh from his Canara Bank account, dialled a number that appeared legitimate in search results but was controlled by scammers. The fraudsters initiated a video call, then a voice call, and convinced the man to click on a malicious link, which compromised his Google Pay settings and led to unauthorised transactions. The victim reported the incident to the police, who registered a case under the Information Technology Act. A similar scam was reported by Instagram user Shreya Mitra, who lost Rs 93,000 after calling a fake hotel booking number found online.