Man held for duping money transfer agent
New Delhi: A 22-year-old youth was arrested for allegedly duping a money transfer agent in south Delhi of Rs 70,000 using an elaborate scam involving a QR code, unsuspecting bike taxi operators and a phone transaction, an official said on Friday.
The accused, identified as Suraj Sharma, contacted a money transfer shop owner in Chhatarpur and claimed that his younger brother would come with a QR code and he would collect an online transfer of Rs 70,000.
Sharma told the money transfer agent that once the amount was transferred, his “younger brother” would pay him the same amount in cash, police said. Sharma then hired a bike ride from a bike taxi aggregator platform and sent him to the shop with a QR code, pretending he was the brother, police said.
The shop owner at the money transfer outlet, believing the ruse, transferred Rs 70,000 in two instalments of Rs 30,000 and Rs 40,000 to the QR code. However, when he asked for the amount in cash, the rider revealed
he was only told to bring the QR code, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Ankit Chauhan said.
Meanwhile, on the other hand, Sharma hired another bike rider and sent him to a mobile shop where he had earlier posed as a buyer and shown interest in buying an iPhone, the DCP said.
Notably, the QR code that the money transfer agent transferred Rs 70,000 was of this mobile shop. “After the money was transferred, Sharma arranged for the iPhone to be picked up through another delivery agent and sent him to a second-hand mobile selling outlet in Bindapur, where he exchanged the iPhone for Rs 61,000 in cash,” the officer said.
Both the delivery agents were unaware they were being used in a fraud and had no role in the conspiracy, police clarified.
The case came to light when the complainant discovered the deception and reported the incident. A case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered on May 12, and an investigation was launched.
Police tracked the transaction trail and visited the second-hand mobile selling outlet where the mobile phone was recovered. The store
owner informed them that the phone had been sold by Suraj for Rs 61,000.
“Based on technical analysis and human intelligence, a raid was conducted and the accused was arrested. He confessed to the crime and revealed that he spent the scammed money on online gaming,” the officer said.
Two mobile phones were recovered from his possession, one used in the crime and another purchased with the defrauded money.
Sharma is a Class 12 pass-out and is currently unemployed. He was previously involved in another cheating case registered in 2022 at K.N. Katju Marg police station. Further investigation is underway, police added.
