Woman loses over Rs 87,000 after downloading app for lounge access at Bengaluru airport

A woman lost over Rs 87,000 in a scam at Bengaluru Airport after downloading an app for lounge access, highlighting the growing threat of digital frauds. The incident has raised concerns about airport security and the tactics used by fraudsters.

In Short

• A woman has revealed how she lost over Rs 87,000 in a scam after being asked to download an app for lounge access.
• The woman even after downloading the app, never used the lounge
• The incident has raised red flags about the increasing sophistication of scams, especially at places like airports where people often feel secure

In an era where scams and digital frauds are on the rise, a recent incident at Bengaluru Airport highlights the dangers of online fraud. A woman has revealed how she lost over Rs 87,000 in a scam after being asked to download an app for lounge access. This is the first time such a scam has come to light, raising concerns about airport security and the tactics employed by fraudsters. Typically, lounge staff do not ask passengers to download apps, making this situation highly unusual and alarming.

In a viral video, the woman shared her experience of trying to access the airport lounge without her physical credit card. Instead, she presented a photo of her card, which led the lounge staff to ask her to download an app called “Lounge Pass” and undergo facial screening for security purposes. Trusting the process, she followed the instructions but quickly realised something was wrong.

The woman even after downloading the app, never used the lounge and instead headed to a nearby Starbucks for a coffee before boarding her flight. A few days after her trip, she began noticing strange behavior with her phone—people couldn’t reach her, and someone else, reportedly a man, was answering her calls. Initially, she blamed this on poor network coverage, as she had been experiencing connectivity issues with Airtel for months.

The real shock came when she received her credit card statement, revealing unauthorized transactions totaling over Rs 87,000, all transferred to a PhonePay account. She now believes that the app she downloaded allowed scammers to access her phone, enabling call forwarding and possibly intercepting one-time passwords (OTPs) to complete the fraudulent transactions.

"This lounge pass app that they asked me to download... they have gone into my phone, gotten to my settings, and done call forwarding, so I didn’t get any calls. I don’t know how many of my OTPs they have access to," the woman explained.

The incident has raised red flags about the increasing sophistication of scams, especially at places like airports where people often feel secure. The woman has since filed a complaint with the cybercrime department, blocked her HDFC credit card, and informed her bank. This story serves as a cautionary tale for travelers to be vigilant and avoid downloading apps or providing personal information without verifying their legitimacy.