Mumbai Crime: Man arrested, son detained for cheating shopkeepers using 'prank app'

Photo for representational purpose. Pic/ istock

Meghwadi Police have recently arrested a 38-year-old man and detained his 15-year-old son for cheating grocery and retail shop owners while paying through e-wallet by using the ‘prank app.'

The app helps users show that they've debited money from their account when they scan the QR code of the recipient even though the actual transaction hasn't been made.

According to police, the son, a Jogeshwari resident, was caught red-handed when he was making a payment to a shop owner by using the prank app last week.

As per police sources, they had received a complaint from a shop owner that the payments made by e-wallet to him by a customer had not reached his account. The police had taken cognizance of the crime, however, when they started the investigation, another shop owner approached them with a similar complaint.

The police registered and FIR after more shopkeepers came forward with the same complaint.

Also Read: Mumbai Crime: Cyber police nab six for cheating people of lakhs

Meghwadi police then began keeping a check on shops and customers who were making payments through the e-wallet app frequently.

They caught the 15-year-old accused and detained him for interrogation. During questioning he revealed that his father was also involved in the scam. The 38-year-old was later arrested.

"The teen had seen a video on YouTube about the prank app using which the QR code scanned by the user can switch it in a way that the payment done shows to the person owning the QR code but actual payment is not made," said PSI Vijay Ghorpade.

"The app was hidden in the accused phone but we managed to trace it after four hours. We are on a lookout for more people who might have cheated shopkeepers using similar apps," he added.

"We have cautioned the shop owners that once a payment is made, they should check their account to see whether they have received the amount or not," said Ghorpade.

"This app is not available on Google play store. It was on YouTube where a couple of people uploaded the same video titled "How to prank people". The maker of the video clearly states that no one should use the app for cheating," said another officer.

"We have written a letter to the domain to remove the related video from YouTube," he added.