Hyderabad: Radhika (name changed), an 18-year-old student residing in Subramanyam Colony, Saidabad, Hyderabad, recently fell victim to an online scam. She lost almost Rs. 1 lakh. Sub-inspector D. Shiva Kumar, the incident took place in the Saidabad police station limits. Radhika had listed a guitar for sale on OLX for Rs. 29,800. Within just 10 minutes of posting the ad, she received a message from a buyer expressing interest in purchasing the guitar.
The buyer requested her phone number for further details and a money transfer. Radhika, who preferred cash payment, was reluctant to share her phone number, but the buyer insisted on using PhonePe, an online payment platform. He sent her a QR code labeled "Receiver QR Code" and instructed her to scan it to receive the payment.
Trusting the buyer, Radhika scanned the code, and Rs. 9,800 was debited from her account. When she informed the buyer that she had not received the payment, he assured her that the money was processing. She again trusted him. However, she soon realized that she had been scammed. She discovered that Rs. 96,600 had been stolen from her account.
The suspect, whose PhonePe account was registered under the name `Jivanlal Partetiā, had used a QR code scam to trick Harshini into transferring money to him. QR code scams typically involve a fraudster sending a QR code that, when scanned, transfers money from the victim's account to the fraudster's account. Radhika has reported the incident to the police, who have registered a case and are currently under investigation. They have identified the suspect's phone number as 8617412521. Police are closing in on the suspect.
