Despite the convenience of smartphones, scam calls and texts remain a universal annoyance, disrupting our daily lives with their relentless frequency. However, a Gurgaon-based software engineer flipped the script by outsmarting scammers in a witty exchange that has now gone viral on social media.
It all started when Gaurav Sharan received a message from a scammer who pretended to be a representative of HDFC Bank. The fraudster attempted to dupe Mr Sharan into updating his PAN details via a fake link. However, recognizing the scam, the techie cleverly turned the tables by offering to revamp their fake website to mimic HDFC's net banking site for a hefty fee of ₹20,000.
''Easy to find it is a scamming website. I am a software engineer, I can help you redesign the page. For 20K, I will help you redesign exactly like the HDFC net banking site,'' he wrote. The scammer then asked him to provide a sample and share it on WhatsApp.
Mr Sharan shared screenshots of the amusing encounter on social media platform X, with a caption that read, ''Lesson: Never mess with a developer.''
See the tweet here:
Lesson: Never mess with a developer pic.twitter.com/GSmtrdDo4A
— Gaurav Sharan (@GauravSharan09) July 27, 2024
The conversation left social media users in splits, while many were eager to know what happened next. Some users jokingly asked if he had received the ₹20,000 payment from the scammers while others recommended forwarding the exchange to HDFC, suggesting that the bank could benefit from hiring him to improve their UI/UX design and prevent similar scams in the future.
One user wrote, ''Why did you censor the phone number? Protecting the privacy of a scammer?''
Another commented, ''Bro can never be unemployed at any point in his life.''
A third joked, ''Playing with the innocence of scammer! This is not correct.'' A fourth added, ''Take the 20k and disappear #ScamTheScammer.'' A fifth wrote, ''Bro's business is to scam the scammers.''