Bizman face the heat as QR code scams rise in twin cities

Hubballi: Cyber tricksters are taking undue advantage of the helplessness of people who have lost their jobs and business due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Businessmen who have lost business are falling prey to the tricks by cheaters. After offering them business, the tricksters, in the guise of making advancement payment, send QR codes and ask them scan the same. The tricksters usually claim themselves to be army officers — apparently to project themselves as legit callers — to trap the target.
Last month, a medical shop owner in Dharwad was cheated in one such incident. The owner received a call from an unknown number, wherein the caller (posing as an army officer), said that he would need masks and sanitisers. He also informed the pharmacist that he will send a QR code on a messenger app so the latter can scan the code and submit the request after entering the UPI password. Within minutes of him doing the same, he lost Rs 45,000 from his bank account. Though the owner dialled the number, the phone remained switched off.
In another similar case registered on July 29, Sanjay Bohara (name changed), a resident of Keshwapur, lost Rs 2 lakh from his bank’s savings account and that of his mother. The con man dialled Sanjay and said that he was purchasing a compressor from his father’s shop. To enable him to make the payment, the caller asked Sanjay to scan the QR code that he had sent. He obliged that many times, each time losing money from his and his mother’s accounts. He has registered a case with cyberpolice in this regard.
S I Inchal (name changed), a teacher who has lost job in the pandemic, received a call from unknown number, and enquired about the job he was searching on a website. Luring Inchal with a job offer, the caller asked him to send his details along with his resume by logging in to a website. The website opened a page, wherein he was asked to his debit card details, complete with the 16-digit number and CVV number. By the time he finished filling in the details, Inchal had lost Rs 19,998.
DCP (crime) R B Basaragi said that the police department is creating awareness on the latest ways of cybercrime. “People should be careful while making online and digital payments to people, especially if the transactions are happening with those unknown to them,” he said.