Vlogger held for duping hotel of ₹6.17 lakh with fake UPI payment screenshots

Sandeep Turan, public relations officer of Gurugram police, said Himanshu had learnt from YouTube about an application that can generate fake screenshots of payments made through a specific UPI platform

A 26-year-old vlogger allegedly lived rent-free for nearly five months at a hotel in DLF Phase 5 by repeatedly showing fake UPI payment screenshots amounting to ₹6.17 lakh, police said on Thursday.

Police said that after successfully deceiving the management the first time by showing a fake payment of ₹83,000 last October, he continued using the same method until the hotel grew suspicious. (Representational image)

The suspect was identified as Himanshu, a resident of Sohna who holds a Master’s degree in computer applications.

Police said he worked as a blogger and promoted YouTube channels for small-scale social media influencers through various applications.

According to investigators, he stayed in a service apartment of a hotel chain in DLF Phase 5 from October 4 to October 7 last year and again from October 15 to February 24 this year. During this period, he allegedly shared 16 fake payment screenshots with the hotel authorities to show that he had settled his dues.

Sandeep Turan, public relations officer of Gurugram police, said Himanshu had learnt from YouTube about an application that can generate fake screenshots of payments made through a specific UPI platform.

“The screenshots reflected the paid amount, date, time and even transaction IDs that closely resembled actual payments made through the app. He was leading a luxurious life in the service apartment,” Turan said.

Police said that after successfully deceiving the management the first time by showing a fake payment of ₹83,000 last October, he continued using the same method until the hotel grew suspicious.

The management cross-checked the payments with their bank statements and payment aggregator, following which it became clear that no money had been credited.

On a complaint filed by Tapesh Kumar, an official of the hotel chain, an FIR was registered against Himanshu for cheating and forgery at Sector 53 police station on Wednesday. He was detained for questioning and later arrested after police found the application installed on his phone that was allegedly used to generate the fake payment screenshots.