Authorities in Madhya Pradesh’s Khajuraho region, located in Chhatarpur district, are investigating a series of fraudulent activities where criminals replaced or tampered with UPI QR codes outside various shops, including petrol pumps. The scam resulted in money being transferred to the fraudsters’ accounts instead of the intended business owners.
Reports indicate that nearly half a dozen establishments were targeted by these fraudsters, who either swapped the original QR codes or pasted fraudulent ones over the genuine codes. The thefts came to light when business owners began noticing that customers were unable to make payments, leading to suspicions of foul play.
One of the affected shopkeepers, Omvati Gupta, who runs a medical store, shared her experience of discovering a fraudulent QR code that displayed the name “Chhotu Tiwari” instead of her store’s name. Gupta quickly replaced the altered code and checked her store’s CCTV footage, which showed three masked individuals replacing the QR code late at night. A similar incident was reported at a petrol pump, where customers also encountered the same fraudulent code.
Other victims of this scam included Nitesh Gupta, a shopkeeper who lost ₹985 and ₹10 due to a fake QR code outside his shop, and several other local businesses such as a biryani and egg shop, a paan shop, and more.
Khajuraho police station in-charge Atul Dixit confirmed that the police are investigating the matter, although no formal complaints have been filed by the shopkeepers yet. Authorities have urged all local businesses to regularly check their QR codes and stay vigilant to prevent further fraudulent activities.
