Kolkata woman using payment app duped of over Rs 13,000

KOLKATA: A 54-year-old woman residing at the South City complex in south Kolkata had allegedly been coaxed into using the Google Pay portal and duped of several thousand rupees. The case is likely to be referred to the anti-bank fraud section and the police are investigating the circumstances under which the crime was committed.
“The case was recorded on the basis of the complaint lodged by Sanchita Ghosal.She alleged that at 5.28pm last Monday, the accused, Anirban Chowdhury (name on Google Pay Portal), who had a valid Google Pay ID, entered into criminal conspiracy. He induced the complainant to transfer Rs 13,500 to the accused’s account through Google Pay UPI Application. Thus the accused cheated the complainant. No one has been arrested so far,” the FIR stated.
According to the police, people should be careful about using UPI apps like Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), Google Pay and PhonePe, which are relatively safer than the rest .
Banking and cyber security experts told TOI that the Google app comes with an added feature. Google Pay’s security infrastructure detects any risk and fraud on the product. For instance, if one receives a request from someone who is not on his or her contact list, it displays a ‘stranger warning’. One can block the user and report it as spam.
Fraudsters take advantage of the ‘request money’ option on the UPI apps.
“There have been numerous instances of such frauds in the last couple of months,” said a detective department officer.