Pune: Cybercrooks replaced the landline number of a city-based sweet store with their own cellphone number on its online profile and cheated several customers between Oct 23 and Nov 6.A 37-year-old personal secretary to the owner of the store chain discovered the fraud after visiting its Bajirao Road branch. The secretary then lodged a complaint with Vishrambaug police on Friday.Navnath Jagtap, senior inspector of Vishrambaug police, said, “The fraud came to light when the personal secretary met a few customers who had been demanding their orders. Generally, establishments, including shops, upload their locations and contact numbers online for their customers. This online information can also be changed.”“The city-based also uploaded details, including its landline number, for customers to place orders. Cybercrooks replaced this landline number on its online profile and put up their own cellphone number,” he said.“Several customers contacted the number, believing it belonged to the sweet store. They placed orders with the fraudsters, who asked for advance payments. Many customers paid and then waited for their orders. The orders never arrived,” Jagtap said.“The cybercrooks took the money and blocked the customers afterwards,” he added. “As of now, we do not know how many customers of the store have been cheated. We are investigating the case,” Jagtap said.
