Now Reading: Delhi Police arrest man in Rs 30.81 lakh cyber fraud case
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Delhi Police arrest man in Rs 30.81 lakh cyber fraud case
Delhi Police have arrested a 22-year-old man for allegedly using fake UPI payment screenshots to cheat shopkeepers and steal their mobile phones for unauthorised transactions. The accused, Nikhil Yadav, was arrested on…
Delhi Police have arrested a 22-year-old man for allegedly using fake UPI payment screenshots to cheat shopkeepers and steal their mobile phones for unauthorised transactions. The accused, Nikhil Yadav, was arrested on August 20 following a probe into a Rs 1 lakh fraud reported by a clothes shop owner in Sadar Bazar.
Police said Yadav targeted small shops, showing fake payment screenshots to make shopkeepers believe the transaction had gone through. When the payment failed, he offered to help and gained access to their phones, or snatched them, to transfer money via banking or UPI apps. The funds were moved to mule accounts or withdrawn from ATMs.
The cumulative cheated amount detected so far exceeds Rs 30.81 lakh. Yadav has been linked to seven other cases in Delhi and Mumbai, and has a history of eight previous theft and cheating cases. Further investigation is underway.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The method of using fake UPI screenshots exploits the trust small shopkeepers place in digital payments, which have surged since the government's 2016 demonetisation push. Under the Information Technology Act, 2000, cyber fraud involving unauthorised access carries up to three years in prison, but repeat offenders like Yadav can face harsher penalties under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The case highlights how mule accounts, often opened by individuals for a small fee, are used to launder stolen funds, making recovery difficult for victims. The RBI's 2019 guidelines on UPI dispute resolution require banks to compensate victims of authorised push payments within 10 days, but cases involving stolen phones and fake screenshots fall into a grey area. With over 300 million UPI transactions daily, police will need to strengthen digital forensic capabilities to track such fraud rings. The trial court will now examine evidence from eight FIRs across two cities.
Source: hindustantimes.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
