Conman steals ₹1.55 lakh from woman through whatsapp QR codes
After scanning the code, ₹10 was deducted from her account which Kumar credited back immediately in order to win her trust. In a similar way, he kept asking her to scan various QR codes which resulted in deductions in her account
Navi Mumbai
After shutting off a food business, in an attempt to sell off the equipment that the 31-year-old entrepreneur used, a Panvel-based woman shared a post on Facebook and in turn got conned of ₹1.55 lakh by a conman who posed as a CISF officer.
The woman, Kalyani Joshi, used to run a chapatti and vegetable centre in Panvel which she had to shut down recently. After shutting down the business, she wanted to sell off the equipment she used in her business. So she used her husband’s Facebook account and posted an advertisement. A man who introduced himself as Mnajeet Singh from CISF, got in touch with her and showed interest in purchasing all the equipment at ₹21,000.
“Singh told the lady that he worked at Mumbai Airport at gate number four and his brother was putting up a restaurant for which he required all the equipment that was for sale. He told her that his brother would collect the equipment the next day while he would make the payment the same day. Since the accused gave so much details about his profession, the lady was convinced,” a police officer from Panvel City police station said.
Singh told the lady that he would be making the payment from his salary account and being a CISF officer, there would be a procedure of making the payment for which his colleague will call her. Later another man, who introduced himself as Sandeep Kumar, contacted her to make the transaction and sent her a QR code on whatsapp. After scanning the code, ₹10 was deducted from her account which Kumar credited back immediately in order to win her trust. In a similar way, he kept asking her to scan various QR codes which resulted in deductions in her account. Convinced that he would be crediting all the amount together in her account as per the procedure to make the payment from a salary account of a CISF officer, she continued scanning the code and losing money from her account.
“After transaction of ₹1.55 lakh, the UPI limit of transferring the money ended and he stopped making the transaction and disconnected the call,” the officer added. The lady then approached Panvel City police and gave a complaint. The incident happened on February 5 and after an enquiry, the FIR against the two accused was registered on Wednesday for cheating under the sections of IPC and IT Act.