the goan I network
MARGAO
Fast food owners and hoteliers, beware. The next time you receive a call from a guest placing orders for food over the phone, verify the antecedents of the caller. Or, you may find that the call that you received has come from distant North East just to defraud you over
the phone.
An alert city-based fast food owner, Nelson Fernandes foiled an apparent bid when a man posing himself as an army man, and saved himself from being defrauded by the conman.
Nelson was at his fast food centre on Sunday evening when he received a call over his landline, the army man introducing himself as a guest put up at a city-based hotel. After inquiring what sort of noodles are being served by the fast food outlet, the man placed orders for 10 takeaway egg noodles, promising to collect the food no sooner it is ready. Just to be doubly sure about the caller, Nelson preferred to return a call and found that the caller was one Vikrant.
After the take away was ready, an unsuspecting Nelson called back the person on the mobile phone, with a plea to take away the ordered food after clearing the bill, amounting to Rs 1,100. The caller said he would oblige, but requested Nelson to WhatsApp the bill so that he can make the payments. Just to inspire confidence, the conman WhatsApp his canteen liquor card to Nelson along with debit card details. “I agreed to his request when I WhatsApp him the bill, but he requested to share my credit card details that he can transfer the amount immediately online,” Nelson recalled.
“I got alerted when he asked me for my credit card details and, he refused to provide the address of his hotel where he was staying. That’s the time, when I told him that his request cannot be acceded,” he said.
A curious Nelson later visited the Margao police station, and inquiries established that the call had come from Assam. The conman disconnected the phone when the police officer questioned whether he is placing fast food orders in Goa by sitting in Assam.
No doubt, Nelson has suffered a loss of Rs 1,100, but he is happy that he saved himself from being defrauded by the conman. And, he has appealed to the citizens in general and businessman in particular to beware of the crooks on the prowl.
