A college student driving Rapido in Bengaluru for some 'extra pocket money' was scammed out of Rs 1,000 through a sophisticated "hospital emergency" trick. In a social media post, the seventh-semester student detailed the workings of the fraud to warn others against falling for it. He admitted to feeling 'pretty stupid' about the entire ordeal as it could have been easily avoided.
The student said he wanted to give his earnings to his mother to make her happy, but the incident turned into an 'absolute nightmare' that left him feeling gutted.
"The worst part is that just this morning, I decided I was going to give today's entire earnings to my mom. I just wanted to make her happy with my hard-earned money," he said.
The setup for the scam involved the scammers making a pickup request from Lakshmi Hospital in RT Nagar. As the student accepted the delivery, one of the scammers called him using a different number. He sounded frantic, claiming that a woman was admitted who needed to be discharged but his UPI was not working at the hospital's billing desk.
"He begged me to help, saying he'd send me Rs 5,000 for the hospital bill plus Rs 300 extra for my trouble. When someone pulls the "hospital emergency" card, your logical brain just shuts off. You aren't thinking about scams; you just want to help someone in a desperate medical situation," the student said.
Willing to help him, the student gave away his mother's number to transfer the money. Subsequently, she received a boilerplate bank SMS stating that Rs 5,000 had been credited to her account.
"Believing it was real, she forwarded me Rs 5,000 from her own account so I could handle the guy's payments," the student highlighted.
"The scammer then sent me a QR code, asking me to clear an initial Rs 1,000 "desk fee." I scanned it and paid him my own money without thinking. Right after that, he sent another QR code and started intensely rushing me to send the rest."
Just when it appeared that the scammer might have his way and secure extra money, the mother called the bank, checked the banking app and found no record of the transaction. The SMS had been spoofed to look like a real bank alert.
"My stomach dropped. I refused to send the rest of the money and literally begged him to just send back my Rs 1,000. I told him I drove the whole day in insane traffic just to earn that much. He just hung up and blocked me."
The student said losing the money hurt, but he would eventually bounce back. However, he felt sorry for those drivers who are dependent on the money for their family's survival.
"Imagine driving 12 hours in Bangalore traffic, exhausting yourself, only to have some heartless scammer steal the exact money you needed to feed your kids or pay rent. It is genuinely sickening," the student said.
Check The Viral Post Here:
Got scammed out of my entire day's Rapido earnings today. Feeling pretty stupid but please read this so you don't fall for it. 🤧😩
by u/BigTutor3229 in bangalore
'That's Really Sad'
As the post gained traction, social media users empathised with the student and advised him to focus on his studies instead of looking for extra cash.
"At this point. We should all just stop handing money away to people," said one user while another added: "Take care, buddy. Even I did Rapido for a few days in my college time. But I felt very exhausted. If your parents are comfortable, just avoid it and put that work in your studies."
A third commented: "That's really sad. Sucks to lose your hard-earned money to scammers. Please be careful in the future and don't ever transfer money to complete strangers. And regarding the Rs 1,000 that you lost, talk to your bank. They can help you reverse the transaction."
A fourth said: "Feeling sorry for you. I'm sure that the scammer won't feel any regret for this and thinks of this as some 'sigma' stuff or being an anti-hero. They justify everything by blaming society, corruption and injustice."
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