Leaving phone with son costs couple ₹1.37 lakh

The victim, Rekha Yadav and her husband Rajesh stay with their two sons and extended family on the SB Patel Marg, Santacruz.

Mumbai: A couple from Santacruz lost ₹1.37 lakh after their 16-year-old son, who was using his mother’s mobile phone, fell prey to cybercrime.

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The victim, Rekha Yadav and her husband Rajesh stay with their two sons and extended family on the SB Patel Marg, Santacruz. The police said that on Sunday evening, Rekha and Sanjay decided to go out for the evening, and Rekha left her phone with her elder son Aman (16).

“Earlier in the day, Aman had uploaded pictures of their old television set on a second-hand sale-and-purchase app, offering it up for sale. At around 4.15 pm, while his parents were out, Aman received a call from an unknown number. The caller said that he liked the TV set and was sending an advance payment of ₹2,000 to seal the deal,” said an officer with the Santacruz police station.

The officer added that the caller first sent one rupee as a ‘test amount’, and on receiving it, Aman was convinced that he was dealing with a genuine party. The caller then sent Aman a QR Code, asking him to scan it through Google Pay. Aman did so and ₹2,000 were debited from his father’s account, instead of the amount being credited.

Aman immediately called up the accused, who said that there was some error and that he was sending the QR code again, this time for ₹4,000.

“For the next several minutes, the caller kept sending QR codes and Aman kept scanning them, losing increasing amounts of money every time. By the end of around 20 minutes, a total of ₹1.37 lakh had been debited from Rajesh’s account. Aman kept asking the caller what was wrong and at the same time, Rajesh and Rekha returned home. Aman immediately told Rajesh about the incident, and Rajesh took the phone from him,” the officer said.

Rajesh spoke to the caller and demanded all his money back immediately but as soon as he heard a grown-up on the line, the caller turned evasive and ultimately hung up. Rajesh realised that his son had fallen prey to cybercrime and rushed to the police station.

“We have registered a case of cheating and impersonation. Technical investigation into the phone number and bank accounts used by the accused are being conducted,” the officer added.