KOCHI: Are you a shop owner who accepts payments using QR codes? Then a fraud that emerged recently will force you to be on guard. The manager of a pizzeria in the city is believed to have duped the owner of nearly Rs 18 lakh by replacing the shop’s Google Pay QR code with his own personal QR code for a period of nearly eight months last year.
A senior officer with Palarivattom police station, where a case has been filed, told TNIE that this is the first such case to come to his attention. “This could even be the first such case in the country,” the officer said. After the fraud was detected, the manager, Malappuram native Jithu Das V P, was fired from his job, according to the complaint.
The case, registered before the shop owner's First Class Judicial Magistrate, reached the Palarivattom police after the court directed them to initiate an FIR.
The crime took place between May 5, 2022, and December 21, 2022. “According to the complainant, Jithu Das allegedly duped him of Rs 17.97 lakh by replacing the GPay QR code scanner. As a result, all customer payments were credited to his personal account. This went on for nearly eight months,” the investigating officer said.
Interestingly, the complaint said the accused deleted or cancelled bill details entered into the accounting software to escape the fraud. “Restaurant staff started having doubts when the number of cancelled transactions soared. Even though bills were cancelled, the transactions were successful,” said a staff member.
Detailed probe will unearth entire scope of fraud: Police
“The software team was able to detect over 500 cancelled transactions over two months. The transaction details revealed that the amounts were credited to the manager’s bank account. It was then that the owner decided to register a complaint against the manager,” said the staff member.
He added that a few customers had also raised doubts when their GPay accounts showed the manager’s name instead of the restaurant’s.
Meanwhile, police officers said only a detailed probe will unearth the entire scope of the fraud. “Since financial fraud is involved, we will need to check the bank transaction details of the accused. We also need to verify the cancelled transactions from the restaurant. If we can link the accused to the fraud, an arrest will be recorded,” said Palarivattom SHO.