A mobile shop owner was duped to the tune of Rs 46,219 by an imposter claiming to be a superintendent of PayTM. The unidentified accused duped the shopkeeper using an online link. A case of cheating has been registered and the accused has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act. While no arrests have been made, a probe is underway.
The 38-year-old complainant, who owns a mobile shop near Lamington Road in south Mumbai, generally accepted payments through various digital payment portals. On October 9, however, after a few customers wired the money on PayTM, the complainant failed to receive it. In a bid to check if there was a problem with his mobile application, the shopkeeper updated the application but to no avail.
As a last resort, the complainant dialed the helpline number available on the internet's search engine. He then received a message from PayTm, which had a link, followed by a call, where the man told him to click on link and confirm the last five digits of his mobile number, which was 27679. Within the next 10 minutes, a couple of transactions were made of Rs 26,767 and Rs 19,452, amounting to a total of Rs 46,219.
The caller ringed the complainant again, but the latter did not entertain as he realised that he was being cheated. The complainant then approached police and lodged a complaint with VP Road Police and a case was registered later. The police have begun their probe and alerted the bank. The investigation is underway to identity the accused.
