A renowned Dadar-based footwear seller was duped to the tune of Rs 80,000 by an imposter Army man, who sought details from the victim on the pretext of ordering a thousand pairs. The victim was asked to scan a QR code, following which he lost Rs 80,000 in a series of 10 transactions. Cops have booked the unidentified accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act.
The 47-year-old complainant, who owns a renowned shop of Kolhapuri footwear at Ranade Road in Dadar (W), received a call on June 27 from an unknown number. The caller introduced himself as an army personnel and said that his father is also a seller of Kolhapuri footwear, who was interested to do business with him. During the conversation, this army man asked for the footwear designs to finalise the order, to which the complainant obliged.
The army personnel liked a few designs and ordered a thousand pairs of Kolhapuri footwear, which was billed at Rs 2 lakh, collectively. The complainant then shared his account number to initiate the transaction, but the army man insisted on paying through Google Pay or PhonePay, following which he shared his wife's number, who used those online payment services.
In a bid to confirm the account, the army man sent Rs 20, and the complainant confirmed the receipt. He then received another call from a different number, where the caller asked him to scan the QR code from Google Pay application sent on his WhatsApp number, which the complainant agreed and did so. Much to his surprise, he lost Rs 80,000 in a series of transactions.
The complainant then checked his wife's account details, wherein he saw that there were 10 messages from the bank, which stated that Rs 8,000 were debited in each transaction. He immediately alerted the bank and filed an online complaint with the police, but due to lockdown, approached local police only on August 12.
Dadar Police immediately registered a First Information Report in the matter and booked the unidentified accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act. Police have sought the Call Data Records and bank statement to probe the matter.
