On February 15, we reported about the increasing cases of QR code scams sweeping the city. However, the awareness is yet to reach more people, while fraudsters make money through nefarious means. The latest is a resident of Whitefield who was cheated by a buyer who saw his advertisement on the OLX website. The next time you are asked to scan a QR code, remember that QR code scanning is to pay the money, not to collect the money.

Though the incident occurred more than two months ago, the case was registered in the local police station only on March 6, 2020. “The cops gave excuses like slow servers, and pending cases,” said complainant S Sengupta about the incident that occured between 9am and 11am on December 25, 2019. “I followed up with the police on many occasions, and only a few days, they registered the FIR.”

According to the police complaint, Sengupta put up his double bed for sale on OLX. Responding to his advertisement, one Kishore called Sengupta from two mobile numbers. Over WhatsApp, Kishore sent him a QR code. When Sengupta scanned the code, Kishore allegedly withdrew Rs 43,500 through multiple transactions. “It was morning and I was ready to go to office and I was having my breakfast, when this happened. I wanted to complete it quickly and get everything done. It all happened so suddenly that I did not realise the scam,” said Sengupta. “It happened twice. They tried it 2-3 more times, but thankfully the transaction never happened. It did not occur to me that reverse transaction can never happen.”

Does Sengupta have any chance of recovering his money? “The cops said that it’s very difficult to track the scamsters as they give false addresses, but promised that they will try to nab them.” And the cops have actually done that in the recent past where a 12-member team from Central Crime Branch (CCB) nabbed five people accused in 200 cyber cases involving QR codes.

Therefore, the cops advise all persons to avoid scanning a QR code to receive payment as it is only meant to send payments. The moment someone asks you to scan QR code to receive payment, you should smell a rat and alert the cops. Since these sort of cases are happening across the country, let this case put you on guard against such scams.

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