A 51-year-old marketing executive in Bhayandar was duped of nearly ₹1.19 lakh by cyber-crooks while attempting to sell his old sofa on the online marketplace of a well-known social networking site that facilitates buying and selling of articles. The victim placed an advertisement on the e-market portal, offering the sofa and washing machine for a sum of ₹5,000 and shortly after received a bid from a prospective “buyer” who agreed to make an online payment of the asking price before taking the delivery.
The scam
The alleged “buyer” who claimed to be working for the Indian army, sent a quick response code to the victim five times who in turn scanned it without realizing that instead of being transferred to them, the money was being deducted from their account. Multiple withdrawals amounting to ₹1,19,999 were made from the victim’s account, prompting them to register a complaint at the Navghar police station.
An offence under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act-2000 have been registered against the caller and the police are further investigating this matter
FPJ Cyber Secure |
