Mumbai, April 7: Fraudsters came up with a new trick to dupe a 32-year-old Powai woman, who is employed as an executive in a private firm, of Rs 4.8 lakh after she made an order for wine on a number found on the internet on April 4. The fraudster called the victim and informed her that she had paid Rs 650 instead of Rs 620, that is, Rs 30 extra, through a payment app.
The police said that despite continuous warnings to prefer cash on delivery, people continue to share their banking details or make online payment without verifying the beneficiary details and get duped like in the present case where the victim scanned the QR code at least six times before realising that she had been duped. Mumbai Woman Gets Duped to Tune of Rs 1.32 Lakh After Taking Part in KBC Lottery Fraud
According to a report in TOI, the fraud occurred between 8.30pm and 9pm when the victim and her sister-in-law, residing in a plush highrise tower in Powai, planned to have a drink and searched for a wine shop from a nearby locality. "They came across Om Sai Beer and called the number and a person named Pradeep Kumar attended their call. After taking the order, Kumar sent a QR code to the victim's mobile and asked her to scan it to pay Rs 620 through G Pay. We have sought details of the bank account to track the accused to which the money got credited. We are also collecting details to trace the person's location." said a police officer at the Powai police station. Online Fraud in Ahmedabad: Man Duped of Rs 50,000 by Cyber Fraudster on Pretext of Activating Credit Card
The victim received a call from kumar a few minutes later after Rs 650 was paid. In the complaint, the victim said: "The fraudster said he wanted to return the extra Rs 30 that I had paid and asked to scan a QR code sent on my mobile, and R519,991 got debited from my account. I inquired about the money debited from my account, the fraudster claimed that there was some error and asked to scan another OR code sent, and this time Rs 96,108 got debited. I kept obeying the fraudster's request to scan the QR code over half a dozen times before realising that I have been duped of Rs4.8 lakh."
A cyber police officer said the Association of Progressive Retail Liquor Vendors (APRLV), Mumbai, has also declared that to tackle these frauds the association has decided to accept cash on delivery instead of asking customers for online payment.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 07, 2022 01:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).