'Money transferred by mistake': Beware, it's a trap of fraudsters

LUDHIANA: Ankit Tuli, a resident of Karnail Singh Nagar, was a bit surprised when he received a WhatsApp call from an unknown number with the caller claiming that he had mistakenly transferred Rs 1,000 into his e-wallet. The caller even shared a screenshot which confirmed that the payment was made to him. The caller humbly requested him to send back Rs 1,000 and shared a QR code for the same. As the caller sounded genuine, Ankit decided to transfer him Rs 1,000. But soon after scanning the QR code in order to return Rs 1,000, he received a message that Rs 23,000 has been transferred from his account. Thereafter, he realized that the caller was a fraud. He called on the number from which he had received a call, but the number was found unreachable.Asha Rani, a resident of Guru Gobind Singh Nagar, said her daughter, a school student, was using her mobile phone when she received a call from a man who said he mistakenly transferred Rs 2,200 on their phone number and asked her to return the money. The man has also sent a screenshot of 'payment successful' message to her. Her daughter fell into the trap and clicked on the link sent by the accused for sending Rs 2,200 back. Soon, Rs 17,800 was transferred from Asha's bank account.These are sole incidents where cyber fraudsters used this tactic to dupe people. Many people have fallen prey to this fraud not only in Ludhiana, but in Punjab too. Taking note of these incidents, the cyber cell of the police has issued an advisory for people to tread cautiously if they receive such calls.The cyber cell said cyber fraudsters would call up people claiming that they had mistakenly transferred cash in e-wallets and request them to pay back the money and send a QR code. The accused would share QR code or links to return the money. And as soon as people scan the QR code or click on the given link, their mobile phone would be hacked and money would be stolen from their accounts.Police have been making people aware through social media posts and asking residents to be more alert.Officials of Ludhiana cyber cell said the reason people fall into these traps is that they trust the caller and screenshot sent by the fraudsters, rather than checking their own account. If someone claims that he has wrongly sent some money, one should always check his own account to confirm it. In majority of the cases, it is found that fraudsters send a fake transaction message screenshot. If the transaction is shown into your account, even then people should never scan the QR code or click on any link. Call that person to meet at a public place to hand over the cash or transfer the amount on the mobile number after verification, they said. Clicking on any link or scanning QR code would lead to a monetary loss, officials added.Officials said Punjab Police and cyber cell have been uploading advisories for people to stay alert against such frauds.They said people should immediate report to the police in such cases. The city police have established a 24x7 helpdesk where people can report the fraud at the earliest so that the bank accounts in which their hard earned money has been transferred can be frozen.