Man held for digital payment fraud around 25 lakh

Thane: A man who allegedly cheated many jewellers and innkeepers for about Rs 25 lakh through digital payment fraud in different states got arrested by Thane police on Monday, PTI reported.

According to Vartak Nagar police station's senior inspector Sadashiv Nikam, the arrest was based on a complaint by one of the victims filed a complaint here regarding him being cheated of Rs 97,330.

The inspector said that the arrestee was identified as Subramaniam Ramakrishna Iyer, who tampered with the digital payment after purchasing jewellery or booking hotel rooms. After an initial rejection of payment for buying something, Subramaniam would pay Re 1 to some random account. With the use of an app, he merges the 'transaction failed' screenshot he first did, which has the receiver's name and details, and the 'transaction successful' screenshot of the Re 1 payment. He showed the victims the merged screenshot, indicating the payment was made.

Police investigation revealed that he had allegedly cheated 14 jewellers as well as 32 hoteliers in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Rajasthan, and the amount so far is 25 lakh and still counting, the inspector said. Similar crimes were lodged at Shivaji Park and NM Marg police stations in Mumbai.

A case has been registered against him under provisions of the IPC and IT Act, he said.