BHOPAL: Police have arrested two men, including a minor boy for cheating shopkeepers using e- wallet apps. The third accused is on the run, police said on Thursday. The trio were wanted by police for duping a shopkeeper of Rs 19,000. Taking advantage of a malfunction in a digital payment App, the trio targeted traders and duped them financially . The accused Gourav Baghel is a class 12 pass out, while the minor is a student of class 9th. Police have seized two mobiles and three SIM cards from the duo.
Deputy Commissioner of police Amit Kumar told media that a shopkeeper from Nadra Bus Stand approached police complaining against three youths who duped him of Rs 19,000. The complainant told police that the three youths came to his shop on October 29, 2021 asking for Rs 19,000 in cash. The youths told the shopkeeper that they had money in their digital wallet but needed cash. They assured the shopkeeper they would transfer Rs 19,000 from their wallet in his account against the cash he would give them, police said. When the shopkeeper agreed, the trio transferred Rs 19,000 in his account and the shopkeeper, after receiving the transaction message that the amount has been credited in his account, handed over cash to them.
Soon after the trio left, the shopkeeper received another transaction SMS stating that Rs 18,965 was deducted from his account. The trader then approached police and lodged a complaint.
The police tracked the mobile number and found that the accused were residents of Ganj-Basoda, district Vidisha.
The police traced the accused and arrested two of them including a minor.. The third accused is on the run. The trio had earlier cheated people in Vidisha. However, the matter was mutually settled and never reported to police. Four-five shopkeepers had fallen victim to their crafty deals.The DCP said that police will write to the officials of concerned App developers to rectify the shortcomings in their App.
Youth would approach shopkeepers seeking cash: The accused would target the shopkeeper and approach him seeking cash in return of transferring money digitally in his account. They used two wallet services to cheat people. In one of the App wallets there is a facility to transfer the amount on a temporary basis. The accused, with the help of the App, would generate a fake payment message and show it to the shopkeepers. Assured the money is credited in the wallet, the shopkeeper would give the amount in cash.
