Woman Loses Over Rs 87,000 At Bengaluru Airport In Lounge Scam: Here's How It Works

A woman lost over Rs 87,000 while trying to get access to a lounge at the Bengaluru international airport. She had downloaded an app called 'Lounge Pass'.

A woman fell prey to a cyber scam after she installed an app called 'lounge pass' to gain access to a longue at the Bengaluru International Airport.

Source : X

Amidst a surge in cyber crimes in India, a woman recently fell victim to a scam at Bengaluru international airport, losing over Rs 87,000 while attempting to access a lounge before her flight.

The unnamed woman, who fell victim to the lounge scam, narrated her ordeal in a video, which has been making rounds on social media. She said the incident occurred on September 29. The video was shared by a social media user, who wrote: "This scam occurred inside the Bengaluru International Airport, to a person using an IPhone, which I regard as scam proof. Safeguard ur hard-earned money, folks!"

Here's What The Lounge Scam Is:

According to the woman, she had to board a flight on the day but had arrived at the airport five hours early. Following this, she felt like resting at an airport lounge while she waited for her flight. Since she did not have her physical credit card, she was asked to show its photograph to get an entry into the lounge.

After her credit card's photo was scanned, the lounge staff then instructed her to download an app called 'Lounge Pass'. She was also asked to complete a facial recognition process for security via screen sharing, which she found to be odd. However, since she was tired, she did not pay much attention and downloaded the app and performed the security check anyway as told. Despite this, she didn't use the lounge and ended up grabbing a Starbucks coffee instead.

After a few days passed by, her friends complained of not being able to reach her by phone. She dismissed it, thinking it would have been due to network issues. It was only after some of her friends told her that a man was answering her calls that she got alarmed. But the woman said she had been preoccupied with her parent's health issues and did not pay much heed to the matter. 

When she received her credit card statement, she was shocked to discover that over Rs 87,000 had been transferred to a PhonePe account. She believes that the scammers might have accessed her phone through the 'Lounge Pass' app, which enabled them to set up call forwarding and potentially intercept the one-time passwords (OTPs) to facilitate the unauthorised transactions.

Watch the full video here:

This scam occurred inside the Bengaluru International Airport, to a person using an IPhone, which I regard as scam proof. Safeguard ur hard-earned money, folks! pic.twitter.com/dOlEg5kGGt

— Dr Jaison Philip. M.S., MCh (@Jasonphilip8) October 22, 2024

She has reported the scam to the cybercrime department, and alerted her bank to block her credit card to avoid any further losses.

The woman also requested people watching her video to stay attentive and get rid of any extra apps on their mobile phones, irrespective of whether they use Iphone or android.