A woman whose flight was apparently cancelled earlier this week allegedly got duped while trying to get the refund through a purported customer care number of the private airline which she found through an internet search engine.

The woman told the police that she had lost over Rs 66,000.

The “customer care number” allegedly belonged to the fraudsters who convinced her to download an app on her phone. Once she did that, the gang allegedly had access to her smartphone.

Police said customer care numbers should be accessed only through websites of the companies concerned and not through independent search engines, as these can be manipulated.

Complainant Anindita Bishnu, a resident of Haridevpur, had booked a flight ticket for Delhi. On June 2, the day she was to fly, she received a purported call from the airport informing her that the flight had been cancelled, the police said.

When she asked the caller how she would get the refund, she was asked to contact the airline.

“She searched for the customer care number on a search engine and dialled the number. The recipient told her that for refund, she would have to click on a link sent to her phone and download an application called AnyDesk,” said an officer of Haridevpur police station.

AnyDesk is a remote desktop application that helps in screen sharing and gives access to other people’s phones and laptops.

Once Bishnu downloaded the app, the fraudster asked her to share a password. The fraudster then asked her to send a photograph of her debit card. She immediately disconnected the call but by then Rs 66,180 had been debited from her account.