NEW DELHI: A 19-year-old youth, Manish Verma, was arrested from Jaipur, Rajasthan, for allegedly tampering with QR codes at shops and diverting digital payments to his bank account, police said on Tuesday.
A complaint stated that on December 13, a customer at a Chandni Chowk garment shop attempted to purchase a lehenga worth Rs 2.50 lakh, making two digital payments of Rs 90,000 and Rs 50,000. The shop management informed him that no payment was credited, despite screenshots, a police officer said.
UPI transaction analysis revealed the payments were diverted to a bank account in Rajasthan. Police recovered over 100 edited and original QR codes and financial records.
The accused admitted that the idea was inspired by the South Indian movie. Using AI-based editing apps, he altered genuine QR codes to link his account, shared them with shop staff, and withdrew funds to evade detection, DCP (North) Raja Banthia added.