Fraudsters swap QR codes at MP's Khajuraho shops to redirect digital payments

Shopkeeper Omvati Gupta, who operates the medical shop, realised that customers’ digital payments were not being credited to her bank account.
A woman running a medicine shop in Khajuraho, a popular tourist destination in Madhya Pradesh, has uncovered a cyber fraud affecting local traders.
A woman running a medicine shop in Khajuraho, a popular tourist destination in Madhya Pradesh, has uncovered a cyber fraud affecting local traders.
Updated on
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BHOPAL: A woman running a medicine shop in Khajuraho, a popular tourist destination in Madhya Pradesh, has uncovered a cyber fraud affecting local traders.

Omvati Gupta, who operates the medical shop, realised on Sunday morning that customers’ digital payments were not being credited to her bank account.

Upon investigating, she discovered that the payments were being routed to a QR code linked to one Chotu Tiwari.

“I subsequently checked the CCTV footage outside the shop, which revealed that three men had replaced the QR code (digital payment code) of the shop with another QR code sticker,” Gupta said.

Gupta reported the incident to the local police and also alerted other traders in the area. Following her alert, several other shopkeepers reported similar incidents of fraud.

“Since the morning, 8-10 customers had come to the shop, but their payments never reached my bank account. After learning about the QR code issue from neighbouring shops, I found that the payments were instead being routed to another account, held by Chotu Tiwari. We also reported the matter to the police,” said Abid Ali, who runs a popular biryani shop in the same area.

The staff at a nearby petrol pump also reported a similar situation, prompting the local police to take immediate action.

Khajuraho Police Station in-charge Atul Dixit confirmed the incident. “Acting on the matter, we have detained the prime accused, Chotu Tiwari, who is also seen in the video footage retrieved from outside the shops. He hails from Jhansi in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and had been working in Saharanpur, western UP, for some time. We are now searching for his two accomplices, who are currently on the run. On Monday, we will ascertain how much money Tiwari has siphoned off by changing the payment QR codes at various shops,” Dixit said.

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