Man arrested for cheating over 200 shopkeepers using fake payment app: Delhi Police

New Delhi, May 29

A man was arrested on Saturday for allegedly cheating over 200 shopkeepers using a fake online payment application, police said.

Kunal Sharma, a resident of Uttam Nagar, could cheat the shopkeepers as he was well versed with the working of such an app, they said and added that he was unemployed.

Sharma used a fake application to show that he had made a payment. He never scanned QR codes but asked for a shopkeeper’s mobile-phone number to pay and then sent a pre-drafted message to the number confirming payment, police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Ingit Pratap Singh said Sharma cheated shopkeepers by offering to pay through an online app.

Then instead of scanning the QR code, he asked for their mobile number attached to the app for making the payment, he said.

Later, he would generate a fake payment transaction receipt using a fake app and send a pre-drafted message that said payment made. But in reality no money was transferred to the victims accounts, the officer said By using this modus operandi, he cheated several shopkeepers, Singh said.

The matter came to light on May 28, after a shopkeeper who was duped by Sharma of Rs 2,560 lodged a complaint at the Palam police station.

In his complaint, the shopkeeper said a customer had come to buy refined oil at his shop, but did not have cash, and so offered to make the payment through an online application, they said, adding that the complainant never received the payment.

DCP Singh said, “With the help of technical surveillance, our team identified the accused and accordingly, a raid was conducted, and Kunal Sharma was arrested from the Palam village area.” “During interrogation, Sharma said he had cheated more than 200 shopkeepers using a spoof app,” he said.

The mobile phone used by Sharma in committing the offences has been seized, police said. — PTI