Woman loses ₹87,000 in lounge access scam at Bengaluru airport

Bengaluru: A woman reportedly lost over ₹87,000 in a suspected scam at Bengaluru Airport while trying to access an airport lounge. Since she didn’t have her physical credit card, she showed a photo of it to gain access. The lounge staff then asked her to download an app and complete a facial screening for security purposes. She complied but later realized it was a scam when she received her credit card bill.

On September 29, after downloading the “Lounge Pass” app, she never used the lounge and instead had coffee at Starbucks. A few days after her trip, she noticed that friends and family couldn’t reach her by phone. Initially, she thought this was due to ongoing network issues with Airtel, which she had experienced for months. However, she grew concerned when someone mentioned that a male voice was answering her calls.

Upon investigating, she found that ₹87,000 had been charged to her credit card and transferred to a PhonePe account. She suspects that the scammers accessed her phone through the app, enabling call forwarding and possibly intercepting OTPs to conduct unauthorised transactions.

In her viral video, she explained, “They accessed my phone settings through screen sharing, set up call forwarding, and blocked me from receiving calls. I don’t know how many OTPs they intercepted.”

She has since filed a complaint with the cybercrime department, informed her bank (HDFC), and blocked her card.

This incident is part of a broader surge in cybercrimes in India. The woman, who shared her story on social media, warned others about the dangers of scams even in seemingly secure environments like airports. The video has sparked widespread discussions, especially since she was using an iPhone, which is often considered more secure against such scams.

The scam involved asking the victim to show a credit card photo and download an app, which then facilitated unauthorized access to her phone, call forwarding, and financial fraud. Despite warning signs, the victim was distracted and realised the scam only after receiving a hefty credit card bill.