Wanting to sell sofa for ₹14,000, UP man loses ₹2 lakh to QR scam

Police said an FIR was registered at Gomti Nagar police station under Section 66D of the Information Technology Act.

What started as an attempt to sell an old sofa for ₹14,000 turned into a nightmare for a Gomti Nagar resident, who ended up losing nearly ₹2 lakh online to a scammer.

The fraudster repeated the process and withdrew another ₹98,000 from the victim's bank account before he could react. (Representative/Pexel)

Ram Mohan Yadav, 40, had listed his sofa on a popular online marketplace with a quote of ₹14,000. He was approached by one Nitant Kumar Singh, who agreed to the price and asked Yadav to pay him via a QR transaction, Yadav was quoted as saying in the FIR.

Yadav scanned a QR code that he received on his phone. “I saw ₹14,000 written on the screen, so I thought it was safe. But instead of receiving money, ₹99,665 was debited from my bank account,” he said. Before he could react, the fraudster repeated the process and withdrew another ₹98,000 from his bank account.

The accused told Yadav that he owned a shop named Royal Furniture Mahal and even contacted him from multiple numbers to maintain trust. “It was too late by the time I realised that it was a trap,” Yadav added.

Yadav lodged a complaint with the cyber crime cell and an FIR was registered at Gomti Nagar police station under Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, said police.

Bogus link robs man of ₹1 lakh

An online search for a doctor landed a Lucknow man in a trap of fraudsters, who emptied ₹1.05 lakh from his bank account.

In his police complaint, Mohd. Furkan of Fakirabad Chauraha in Sarojininagar said he was looking for the contact number of neurologist Dr. Alok Verma when he came across a phone number. “I called the number and the person on the other side asked me to fill out an appointment form through a link sent to my mobile,” Furkan said in his complaint.

After clicking the link, he received multiple OTPs. Soon after, his phone was hacked, and three unauthorised transactions were made from his bank account. Two withdrawals of ₹49,865 each were on August 22 and another ₹5,000 on August 23.

Police have registered a case under Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, said investigating officer Suresh Narayan Mishra.