Heed those WhatsApp warnings on fraudsters

It’s the sort of thing WhatsApp messages warn you against. Guard against door-to-door salesmen, resist enticing offers from fly-by-night companies, and never share your credit card pin code with people claiming to be from your bank. I get such messages all the time. I’m sure you do too. Last week, the predicament they seek to prevent happened to my sister, Kiran.
Her front-bell rang on Saturday afternoon and she found three men claiming to be engineers from Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) at the door. They said they had come to check her gas connection. Fortunately, Kiran’s response was to ask for their identity cards but, I presume, they produced fake ones. She also had the wit to photograph the cards and obtain their phone numbers. That surprised the men, but it didn’t shake their confidence.
Kiran took them to the kitchen, but ensured her own staff was present all the time. The three men ‘inspected’ the pipes and declared one of them had outlived its warranty and needed to be replaced. If mine’s become old, Kiran said, all the other flats in this building will have the same problem. We got our gas connections at the same time.
Undaunted, the man who claimed he was the senior engineer said he’d check with the next door flat. Minutes later, he returned to say theirs was okay. It had been updated. Kiran, he said, needed to take similar action.
As the three men began replacing the pipe, Kiran, irritated that IGL had not told her the connection needed updating or that their engineers would visit, began texting all the IGL numbers she has to ask why. She must have texted 10 or 15 — several, no doubt, out of use — and one which she thought belongs to a former CEO.
It didn’t take long for replies to come. These men have not been sent by IGL. They’re imposters. More importantly, don’t let them change any pipes. Some of the IGL numbers sent Kiran WhatsApp messages warning that frauds were masquerading as IGL staff. Get rid of these men was the clear message. They’re cheats.
But by then the pipe had been removed and a replacement fitted in its place. Oddly, the men didn’t ask for payment. Instead, they seemed in a hurry to leave. Perhaps unnerved by Kiran’s communication with IGL, they told her she’d be charged for their work in her next gas bill. And then they left, accidentally leaving behind a greasy folder.
Meanwhile, IGL told her they were immediately sending their engineers to her home. In fact, the number she thought belonged to a former CEO made a particular effort to ensure IGL’s own engineers — the real McCoy — would arrive as soon as possible and double-check the new pipe the imposters had fixed.
By now the penny had fully dropped. Kiran telephoned the Vasant Vihar Station House Officer who immediately sent the police around. Kiran said his response was prompt, efficient and polite. So, shortly after the three imposters had done their ‘work’ and departed, IGL engineers and the police were at Kiran’s place.
IGL told Kiran not only was the replacement pipe fake, but its lower half had not been properly fastened. So, if the gas had been switched on, it would have leaked. The police took copies of the identity cards Kiran had photographed and the folder the imposters left behind. They said they would trace the men through the phone numbers.
Thus, within 90 minutes, the situation was rectified and the damage reversed. Kiran was left with a riveting if disturbing tale to tell, but it could have been far worse. She’s very lucky it wasn’t.
I would say three things saved her. The fact she photographed the identity cards and had taken their phone numbers, then insisted on enquiring with IGL why she hadn’t been informed in advance and, most importantly, kept her own staff in the kitchen while the imposters were ‘working’ on the ‘faulty’ pipe. But suppose she hadn’t done any of this?
Karan Thapar is the author of Devil’s Advocate: The Untold Story.The views expressed are personal