Indian Army — Online fraud through Paytm showing IDs of Army personnel

Online fraud through Paytm showing IDs of Army personnel

I have been cheated Rs. 4950 in three instalments (2500 + 2100 + 350) on 18.07.2020 through online Paytm by a group who impersonated as men from army posted at Indira Gandhi International Airport.

I had put an advertisement in Facebook marketplace to sell my household old furniture and appliances. On 18th July morning at Facebook chat one man took my phone no. to contact. After sometime another man rang me and said he is interested to buy the air cooler. He said he is from army and is posted at Indira Gandhi International Airport. He will make payment (Rs.2500) after going to his office and his assistant will come to my place to take the air cooler. After sometime he rang me on Whatsapp and said his colleague will make the payment, as they are from army they have to make payment online to my bank account through Paytm.

I generally use my debit card for online purchases and am not very conversant with transaction in bank account through Paytm. My Paytm account also was not connected with my bank account. So I was confused. They guided me through Whatsapp to connect my bank account with my Paytm. They sent me QR code in Whatsapp for payment of Rs.2500 to me and told me to scan it with Paytm and put PIN, and they will put their PIN from their side to make the payment to my account. I was totally confused and did the same. I checked my bank account and noted that instead of crediting the money it has been deducted from my account. I told them this and they said probably there is some mistake in the machine and are sending a QR code again. This time they sent QR code for Rs.2100 and again Rs.350. In a state o[censored]tter confusion from my side I made same mistake again for second and third time. I argued with them and to convince me and gain my trust they sent me a PAN Card as ID proof. The PAN card was of Mr. Sahil Kumar, S/o Ashok Kumar, DOB 04/11/1994, PAN GIOPK4082C. This may be fake or stolen ID. After long conversation and arguments they said the Paytm is locked now and told me to open GooglePay in the same way and sent QR codes for GooglePay. I somehow understood their trick and said Googlepay is not working. They said they will make payment of Rs.2500 and refund the total money of Rs.4950 the next day.

Two phone numbers were used by them during the conversations and arguments through Whatsapp, [protected] and [protected]. On first day three persons spoke during the conversation, when I asked for name of each person they told three names, Sahil Kumar, Arjun Singh and Amit Chand. The payments had gone to two Paytm accounts in the name of Rajpati Rajbhar (Rs.2500 and Rs.2100) and Arjum Singh (Rs.350). They deleted the QR codes quickly and I could not take screen shots of the QR codes. But I could save the PAN card of Sahil Kumar.

They again rang me next day on 19.07.2020 and said they will refund the money. By this time I was clear about the fraud and argued with them about their identity. They tried to convince me saying that they are men from the army and army men cannot be cheat. When I tried to make video call they disconnected immediately saying video call is not permitted in army premises. I insisted and after some time the person named Amit Chand made video call for a very short time. I could take screen shot of the man this time.

To convince me about their identity they sent me Canteen Smart card, PAN card and Aadhaar Card of one Anand Kumar Singh and CISF ID card of constable Amit Chand which is clearly a fake. They sent QR Codes to make payment. This time I saw the payment was going to the account of one Ritika. I did not agree and told them to make the payment directly to my Paytm wallet which they did not do. This time I could take screen shots of the QR codes and the ID cards before they finally could delete them. They finally angrily said I will not get back the money.

I believe probably some fraudsters have faked or stolen the ID proofs of army personnel and are cheating unsuspecting common people through online payment portals in the name of the army. They have probably hacked the payment platforms and got the capability of generating fraudulent QR codes that is able to transfer money through Paytm.

It is really alarming situation and needs thorough investigation to nab the fraudsters.

Braja Gopal Samanta
[protected]@yahoo.com
Ph. [protected]