A security guard who doubles as a driver for an app-based two-wheeler aggregator was duped of his money by an alleged fraudster who posed as a client and booked the two-wheeler from Ballygunge.
The passenger allegedly asked the driver to scan a QR code to receive money. After scanning the QR code, the driver was left poorer by Rs 15,000.
Police said the incident happened on Wednesday evening when the complainant received a booking entry and the pick-up was from Ballygunge.
“I connected with the person over the phone. He asked me to come in front of the Ballygunge army camp and said he was an army officer. He had booked the ride till Howrah. However, when I reached the pick-up location, the man was nowhere,” the complainant, who requested anonymity, told Metro on Thursday.
He then received a call from the “client” again and he said he was inside the army campus and to issue a gate pass for the entry of the two-wheeler, he needed to pay the two-wheeler charge in full.
“The man said there was a rule on the campus that the man who claimed to be an army official could ride out of the campus in the two-wheeler only after he had paid for the ride in advance. He sent me a QR Code and asked me to scan the Code. Initially, he said he would send Re 1 to my account. After I received Re 1, two fraudulent transactions happened and Rs 13,000 and Rs 2,000 were deducted from my account,” he said.
The police said the fraudster had impersonated an army officer and to win the trust of the two-wheeler driver sent him identity documents that are suspected to be forged or stolen.
The man who lost money reported the matter to Ballygunge police station on Wednesday and a probe has been initiated.
“I work as a security guard but just to give my child a better education I took up the job of a two-wheeler driver. I had no clue that someone pretending to be a client could cheat me like this. The money that I have lost means a lot to me and my family,” he said.
A Kolkata police officer said: “We feel that the fraudster had deliberately posed as an army officer to win the confidence of the victim.”