Pune, Maharashtra (December 16, 2024): A police constable in Pune lost Rs 2.3 lakh in a cyber fraud involving a QR code. The incident took place in Saswad near Pune. The victim has filed a complaint with the Pune rural police.
The constable tried to make a payment at a bakery by scanning a QR code. After scanning, he received a message about an unauthorized deduction of Rs 18,755 from his savings account. Alarmed, he checked his other bank accounts. He found Rs 12,250 had been deducted from his salary account. Only Rs 50 remained in the account.
The situation worsened when the constable received an OTP notification for a Rs 1.9 lakh transaction from his gold loan account. Although he did not share the OTP, the transaction was still successful.
Fraudsters also attempted to make two transactions of Rs 14,000 using his credit card details. The constable managed to prevent these transactions by quickly freezing his bank accounts and credit card.
The police investigation is ongoing. Authorities believe the scammers accessed the constable’s mobile phone and bank accounts through a malicious APK file. It is suspected that the constable may have unknowingly clicked on a link sent by the fraudsters. This allowed the scammers to install malware on his device. The malware captured sensitive information, including login credentials and OTPs, and enabled the fraudsters to access multiple accounts.
Police are now examining whether the QR code was manipulated or if other tactics were used by the fraudsters to deceive the constable.