Kolkata: A city resident filed a police complaint alleging he was cheated of Rs 80,000 through an online marketplace transaction in which an unknown caller impersonated a buyer and used multiple UPI IDs to obtain repeated transfers on the pretext of a refundable "token" and "verification" process.
According to the written complaint, the incident occurred on Dec 18, when the complainant was at Raja Ram Mohan Roy Sarani under Amherst Street police station area. He reported receiving a phone call from a person who introduced himself as "Rahul Agarwal" and contacted him from two mobile numbers, after seeing an online advertisement for the sale of a household sofa set.
The caller allegedly expressed interest in purchasing the item and offered to pay an advance booking amount of Rs 5,000. The caller then instructed him to first transfer Rs 2 to a UPI ID, devirukmani22@bpunity. The caller then used "fraudulent tactics, false assurances, and calculated misrepresentations" to persuade him to send additional amounts to multiple UPI IDs. After receiving the money, the caller allegedly switched off his phone.