GHAZIABAD: For a few months now, people being cheated on the pretext of Paytm cashback offers have hit headlines in Noida and Ghaziabad. One such call, where the alleged impersonator identified himself as the Paytm vice-president, has led Ghaziabad police to lodge an FIR against the entire top rung of the company management.
The FIR, registered on a complaint by one Rajkumar Singh, names Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, his brother and vice-president Ajay Shekhar Sharma and a few other senior officials under IPC Section 420 (cheating) and Section 66D of the IT Act. Police said they had booked the officials to ascertain if bank details of the victim had been compromised in any way by the company.
Singh, who sells ayurvedic medicines for a living, was cheated of Rs 1.5 lakh. He received a call on December 28 last year, when the person on the other side identified himself as Paytm VP Ajay Shekhar. "He told me I had won a cashback and he would send me a link on my number from Paytm Banks. I had to click on the link. Initially, I was sceptical, as Paytm never asked me to click on any link," he said.
To gain Rajkumar's trust, the caller read out to him a list of previous transactions he had done through Paytm. "He knew everything - my email ID, bank details and transactions I had done. Only an employee of Paytm should know this. As soon as I clicked on the link, Rs 1.47 lakh was deducted from my account," Singh said.
Police said they would question the Paytm officials to find out if there was any lapse on the part of the company in securing customers' data. "This is a serious concern for those using online payment systems. These companies should be responsible for securing the data of customers," said Kalanidhi Naithani, the Ghaziabad police chief.
Paytm VP Ajay Shekhar denied having made any such call. "All the allegations are false. How the data got leaked is a matter of investigation. A police probe will reveal everything," he said. Paytm Banks clarified in a statement it never calls customers for their KYCs.
The FIR, registered on a complaint by one Rajkumar Singh, names Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, his brother and vice-president Ajay Shekhar Sharma and a few other senior officials under IPC Section 420 (cheating) and Section 66D of the IT Act. Police said they had booked the officials to ascertain if bank details of the victim had been compromised in any way by the company.
Singh, who sells ayurvedic medicines for a living, was cheated of Rs 1.5 lakh. He received a call on December 28 last year, when the person on the other side identified himself as Paytm VP Ajay Shekhar. "He told me I had won a cashback and he would send me a link on my number from Paytm Banks. I had to click on the link. Initially, I was sceptical, as Paytm never asked me to click on any link," he said.
To gain Rajkumar's trust, the caller read out to him a list of previous transactions he had done through Paytm. "He knew everything - my email ID, bank details and transactions I had done. Only an employee of Paytm should know this. As soon as I clicked on the link, Rs 1.47 lakh was deducted from my account," Singh said.
Police said they would question the Paytm officials to find out if there was any lapse on the part of the company in securing customers' data. "This is a serious concern for those using online payment systems. These companies should be responsible for securing the data of customers," said Kalanidhi Naithani, the Ghaziabad police chief.
Paytm VP Ajay Shekhar denied having made any such call. "All the allegations are false. How the data got leaked is a matter of investigation. A police probe will reveal everything," he said. Paytm Banks clarified in a statement it never calls customers for their KYCs.
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