Mumbai: 77-Year-Old Woman Loses ₹7.51 Lakh In Fake IndiGo Refund Scam After Searching Number Online

Mumbai: A senior citizen lost Rs 7.51 lakh in a flight ticket refund scam. A 77-year-old woman searched on Google for a refund for her IndiGo Airlines tickets and landed on a fraudulent page, resulting in the loss. The Juhu police registered an FIR on July 9 against an unidentified individual for allegedly cheating her.

According to the FIR, the complainant, S. Menon, 77, resides in Juhu with her 80-year-old husband. In April 2025, she booked two tickets from Mumbai to Coimbatore, Kerala, for IndiGo Airlines through the Cleartrip.com website. IndiGo Airlines cancelled the tickets in May 2025 but did not refund the money for several days.

Subsequently, on June 26 at 11 am, she googled the airline’s customer care number and fell into the fraudsters’ trap. She found a mobile number on a fake customer service page and dialled it. The person who answered claimed to be an employee of the airline and sent her a link named ‘CUSTOMER SUPPORT G1.apk’. When she clicked the link, she thought it was the airline’s site. Soon after, she received a video call, and the caller asked for her bank details, which she provided.

On July 4, Rs 12,000 was debited from her account, followed by Rs 66,000 from her and her husband’s joint HDFC Bank account. Apart from these, Rs 6.73 lakh was debited from her and her daughter Sunanda’s joint HDFC Bank account. In total, she lost Rs 7.51 lakh. When she approached the bank, she was asked to fill out a form and was advised to approach the police.

She dialled 1930 and filed a complaint. The Juhu police have registered a case against an unidentified individual under sections 318(4) (cheating) and 319(2) (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.