Indian business owner teaches Paytm scammer a bitter lesson [must watch]

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, there's been an uptick in the number of cybercrimes. India is no stranger to digital frauds, but with the digitization and rise in the use of mobile wallets, scammers are coming up with different ways to trick unsuspecting users. One such incident was shared by an Indian business owner, which teaches an important lesson to everyone.

"A couple of days back, someone tried to pull a fast one on us. Thankfully we didn't end up falling for it. But if we weren't alert enough, we'd have ended up losing about 8k!!" writes Awktopus, a small brand that sells customized personal items.

The brand shared screenshots of the conversation they had with the scammer, who almost got away with Rs 8,000 had it not been for the quick thinking of the business owner. The icing on the cake is how the business owner played along and gave the scammer a taste of its own medicine.

How did the scam play out?

The scammer, with the Instagram handle @shoppingcart117, purchased items from Awktopus worth Rs 858. As the norm dictates, the brand asked the customer to make an online payment. But things got tricky.

"They sent us a screenshot where the amount was only typed. And they supposedly sent 8k additional," the Awktopus said.

In a convincing tone, the scammer then asks for the additional Rs 8,000 back to be sent to them. But the business owner noticed it wasn't a payment screenshot, instead, the amount of Rs 8,858 was typed in manually and a screenshot of the same was shared with the business. The business owner was in no mood to spare the malicious attempt to trick small businesses and decided it was payback time.

Awktopus then typed "Paid Rs 8,000" and shared a screenshot of the text with the scammer and wrote "Hope you received!" Clearly, the scammer knew what had happened and his next message was proof he wasn't happy about it.

The business owner then responded to the foul language with a warning to "STOP SCAMMING SMALL BUSINESSES. HAVE SOME SHAME."

It is not certain if the scammer learned his lesson, but the screenshots shared by the business owner were viral, drawing applause from people in the comments section. Kudos, Awktopus!