Delhi Police busts UPI fraud ring targeting shopkeepers, one held

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police’s Crime Branch has arrested a fraudster who deceived shopkeepers and jewelers presenting counterfeit UPI transaction screenshots. Acting on information provided by an anonymous source at the Crime Branch, the police apprehended the culprit. The arrested accused has been identified as Harsh (22), a resident of Delhi.

Harsh’s arrest followed a sting operation based on intelligence gathered by officers Head Constable Sonu and Constable Surender of the Crime Branch. The arrest led to the resolution of four major cheating cases and the recovery of stolen items, including three mobile phones and five gold rings. Authorities disclosed that Harsh and his partner, Piyush, targeted shopkeepers and vendors across Delhi and Jaipur, employing doctored UPI payment screenshots to carry out their scam.

The fraudulent activities impacted businesses across various locations, including Swaroop Nagar, Hari Nagar, Karol Bagh, Tagore Garden, Moti Nagar, Vijay Vihar. Their modus operandi involved fabricating “Transaction Successful” notifications generated using the PhonePe app.

During interrogation, Harsh admitted to altering UPI transactions to falsely indicate successful payments, even though the transactions failed due to deliberately entering incorrect PINs. His utilised sophisticated image editing techniques to create convincing evidence of payment, which he presented to the unsuspecting victims to obtain goods without actual payment.

Among the items recovered were an iPhone 13 and a Redmi 13C, identified as stolen in separate FIRs lodged in Swaroop Nagar and Moti Nagar police stations, respectively. Additionally, a gold ring linked to another case in Moti Nagar was also found in Harsh’s possession.