Instances of unexpected breakdowns or emergencies on the road are quite common among car drivers, which is when RSA, or roadside assistance, services come into play. These services provide assistance to car owners such as towing, jump-starting and changing a flat tyre. While these services are usually provided by manufacturers, insurance companies or other service providers, scammers are now taking advantage of this to defraud car owners.
In the past, scammers used fake assistance schemes where they would go to people’s homes and charge for fake RSA cards. With the rise in online scams, fraudsters are now demanding money through UPI channels in exchange for genuine RSA cards.
Unfortunately, the victims of these scams are often unaware that they are being duped, making it important for new car owners to be on the alert for fraudulent calls or offers.
Delhi Man Receives Scam Call For Fake RSA Card
Recently, a man in Delhi got a call from a fraudster, who offered him a fake RSA card via UPI for a fee of Rs 3,500.
Arun Pant, a frontend engineer from Gurugram, had bought a new Maruti Brezza when he received the fake call. The scammer, who already had information about Arun’s car purchases and address, called him to confirm his address and then requested Rs 3,500 for an RSA card. The caller spoke fluent English and sounded “very confident”, reports India Today.
However, Arun, being aware of similar scams targeting new car owners, senses the caller’s intentions and decides to confront him.
“In most cases, I have seen scammers asking for an exact amount of Rs 3,500. Keeping this in mind, something tells me that they use some registered product which costs the same to hide the scam,” he said, as reported by the media portal.
Sharing the incident on his Instagram, Arun warned other new car owners to beware of such frauds.
Significantly, this is not the first time that such a case has come to the fore. Last year, a woman shared her experience of being a victim of a scam related to RSA, where a fraudster posed as a Honda agent. After paying the requested amount, he also received messages that appeared to be from a legitimate courier company.