A Rapido driver from Chandigarh recently shared a post on Reddit about falling victim to a digital scam and losing Rs 4,000. In the post, the driver explained that he had accepted a ride request near Command Hospital and was asked to make a detour to drop off the passenger's wife at the railway station. The situation seemed slightly unusual, but didn't raise immediate red flags. However, it eventually turned out to be a clever ruse.
"I got a ride in morning near CH((Army hospital) As I was close I accepted it. The passenger called me saying that his wife is inside hospital and needs to be dropped at Railway station. And he is paying 4200 and I can take my amount and repay at her id as it was not getting done from his account," the Rapido driver wrote.
The passenger claimed to have paid Rs 4,200 for the ride but asked the driver to transfer the amount to another account, citing issues with his UPI. The driver verified a Rs 4,000 credit in his account and, trusting the passenger, transferred the money to the QR code provided via WhatsApp.
"Then he said he sent 4000 and I check ky account there was 4000 received but I didn't check date of receipt. He said his wife is inside and I should send money on QR which he sent on WhatsApp and I did. As I saw 4009 received I wasn't worried but he said he is sending more money to transfer where I got doubt and disconnected," the driver added.
See the post here:
I got scammed after getting ride on Rapido( i work as Rapido captain)
byu/Jasszzi inChandigarh
The driver later realised the Rs 4,000 credit in his account was actually from a friend, sent the previous day. The scammer had cleverly exploited the timing, and by the time the driver grew suspicious, the damage was done. The scammer's attempt to send another fake transaction alerted the driver, who disconnected the call, but he had already lost his earnings from several days.
"I was happy that I escaped untill I saw date of receipt of 4000. It was Friend who sent me 4000 yesterday. I was scammed, being understanding everything and being smart and educated. My earnings of 4-5 days vanished in a minute bcz of lil ignornace. Where can I report this or is there any chance to get money back?" he said, concluding the post.
The incident resonated with many Reddit users, who shared similar experiences. Many urged the driver to file an online complaint on the cybercrime portal and share the FIR with the bank to facilitate a chargeback.
One user wrote, "The same happened with a rapido driver, I know. The exact hospital and the exact story. He did go to the police station, and the number was found to be from Rajasthan, iirc. But nothing much happened."
