QR code scan fraud: Beware of fake ads on OLX, Facebook, Quikr

Hyderabad: On the 17th of January, Ramya (name changed) a resident of Kukatpally uploaded pictures of a 5-seater sofa set, for sale on OLX website clocking a price of Rs. 23,500. Following this lady received a call from Vinod Kumar, who showed interest in purchasing the sofa. The man sent Ramya a QR code and asked her to scan for advance payment and assured to collect the set later.

On believing him, Ramya scanned the QR code for Rs. 1 and got Rs 2 to her SBI Bank account. As such, she scanned various codes multiple times and realized that an amount of Rs. 99,500/- has been deducted from her SBI Bank A/c. It was then she realised that it was a trap laid to cheat her.

In a separate incident reported recently, another victim to the scam Suchitra, stated that on 31 December 2020, she uploaded pictures of a dressing table on OLX website for Rs. 3,500. She then received a call from (Praveen Kumar) who sent her a QR code. In the same modus operandi, the lady was trapped into scanning the code. As a result an amount of Rs. 57,000 was deducted from her account.

Modus operandi of the fraud:

Investigation revealed that Cyber fraudsters post Ads on platforms like Olx, FaceBook and Quikr pretending to purchase and sell used goods. Most of the QR code frauds are in cases of purchasing the goods, i.e., whenever the victim posts an ad to sell some goods on Olx, the fraudster contacts him/her over chat and after exchanging the contact numbers, the fraudster starts chatting over

WhatsApp and makes the victim believe that he/she is ready to purchase the goods and without even negotiating the price, he will ask the victim to scan the QR code sent by him so that they will receive the money into their account.

By believing this, the victims innocently scan the QR codes sent by the fraudsters presuming that they will receive the money into their account but they lose hard earned money after scanning the codes, Cops said.

Advisory:

-Read the instructions notified by the platform before proceeding further to pay/receive the amount and do not fall into the trap of the fraudsters.

-Be informed that there is no need to enter the UPI PIN while receiving the amount through QR Code scanning. PIN needs to be entered while paying the amount only.

-Do not fall prey just by reading the remarks column of the QR code screen as the fraudsters mention the remarks as 'paying XXXX amount', etc… to make you believe.

-Do not believe in the ads posted on Olx platform just by looking at the ad and inspect the goods in person before buying.

-Be informed that most of the fraudsters are posting ads with the pictures of Army officers or any other uniformed forces to make you believe. Hence, you are requested to verify the veracity of such posts/persons.

Appeal from Cyberabad cops:

Cyberabad police is receiving complaints from victims wherein they are losing their hard-earned money after scanning the QR codes sent by the fraudsters on the pretext of sending the amount to them.

The Cyber fraudsters who hail from Rajasthan State are posting fake ads in Olx website, FaceBook and Quikr websites on the pretext of selling/purchasing used goods and cheating the innocent citizens in one way or the other.