Sharing personal info for gifts' could cost you dearly

Hyderabad: The info you give out at shopping malls could be used to scam you later, a senior Hyderabad police official has said.

It is best to avoid giving personal details at public places like malls or shopping complexes. Salespersons usually take down these details in order to pass on information about holiday packages or gift offers. “Several offers will be made to you, but one should be very careful with what information is being given,” additional DCP, Commissioner’s Task Force, Mr S. Chaitanya Kumar, said. “Remember that there is no legal recourse if you lose your money in this fashion.”

He went on to say that the mall authorities might not even be aware of these salespersons, as they are dressed in casuals like other customers and approach only gullible targets. 

Uttam Pandey, a techie working at Madhapur, shared an experience his mother had. “My mother was at a mall the other day. A girl sweet-talked her into sharing her contact details for some lucky draw and offers,” Uttam said. “The next day someone called her up to say she had won free gifts, which were worth more than my monthly salary. He told her this was not a scam and asked her to come as a couple and collect it. Mom handed it over to me. When I probed, they said, ‘Malls do this for publicity and to build patronage. You will get a dinner set and some shopping vouchers. You don’t have to spend a single rupee.’”

On probing further, he realised that the number from which they had received the call was marked as spam by several users. He realised they would eventually have been reeled onto some scheme and made to pay a hefty amount.

Last June, the Cyber Crime Police of Hyderabad nabbed a gang of three from Okhla Industrial Area for looting money from innocent people with the lure of fake offers and prize money. One person was made to shell out a whopping Rs 88 lakh. The person said he received a call from one Rahil Kapoor Shop Cherries Marketing Pvt Ltd, offering gift items like a laptop and cell phone and a trip to Turkey for two persons for an amount of Rs 2.5 lakh, after he gave out his number unmindfully at a shopping centre.

“Any details you share with these frauds can compromise your personal and financial information,” said an official from Cyber Crimes Hyderabad. “Moreover, payments once made to these accounts cannot be retrieved or reversed, and you may be cheated of your hard-earned money.” He also asked netizens not to fall for phone calls advertising gifts and offers and to report such calls to the Cyber Crime Police Station for necessary action.