A fresh wave of online fraud has struck Madhya Pradesh, where fraudsters are replacing the QR codes outside various shops and establishments in the night with cleverness, through which the payments that come for the shopkeepers are credited to their accounts.
This shocking modus operandi was caught on CCTV, and police in the area have started an investigation into the incidents. Reports said that at many petrol pumps in Chhatarpur district’s Khajuraho region, the QR codes were replaced overnight with a fake code. In some places, the duplicate was merely pasted over the original one.
The scheme came to light when shopkeepers opened their doors in the morning and found that they were not receiving any payments from customers. In one such incident, a medical store owner, Omvati Gupta, showed great awareness and averted a potential loss. A customer informed her that the name reflected on the QR code being scanned was “Chhotu Tiwari” and not the name of her store.
Gupta immediately replaced the fake QR code and checked her CCTV footage, which showed three masked individuals tampering with the codes late at night. Her timely actions not only saved her from further losses but also warned other shopkeepers in the vicinity.
A similar incident occurred at a petrol pump, where the employees detected a new QR code pasted on top of the original one. The customers also complained that the money was not credited to the account of the business. The workers tore off the fake QR code and found again the name “Chhotu Tiwari” on it. The fake code was removed but no complaint has been filed.
In another incident, a shopkeeper in Narayana Market, Nitesh Gupta complained that he lost an amount of Rs 985 and Rs 10 respectively through the fake QR code displayed outside his shop. Other shops that have been victimized include a biryani and egg shop, paan shop, and other small shops in the vicinity.
In-Charge of Khajuraho Police Station Atul Dixit confirmed that the matters were under investigation though the shopkeepers have not filed any complaints so far. “We are on the case, and the culprits will be caught soon,” Dixit said. After the incident, police asked the businessmen to check on their QR frequently to avert similar incidents.
