Suspects use Unified Payment Interface of India ‘loopholes’to transfer money illegally

AURANGABAD: The city police have booked as many as three people on charges of illegally transferring money from Bank of Maharashtra to a private bank with the help of a mobile application.
The accused trio, including a software engineer, using the ‘Unified Payment Interface of India’ (UPI) application illegally transferred a huge sum into dummy bank accounts they created with Axis Bank.
Investigation officer and Mukundwadi police inspector Shivaji Kamble said, “The case is sensitive in nature and the alleged cheating has been committed by using loopholes in UPI, which is newly introduced and most advanced form of digital payment.”
He added, “The exact amount involved in the case is not yet clear and police have shot letters to both the banks asking transaction statements between the two banks.”
Based on a complaint lodged by Arvind Mukundrai Waykole, the 53-year-old branch manager of the Bank of Maharashtra, the police have registered a case of cheating and also added sections of Information Technology Act against the accused.
Waykole in his complaint to the police has stated that the accused have cheated the bank by illegally transferring money from Bank of Maharashtra to their bank accounts.
Cybercrime branch API Unmesh Thite said, “The UPI, which is one of the most advanced form of digital payment, is a mobile-based application that facilitates money transfer between two bank accounts and is as easy as sending a text message. Moreover, the person is not even required to share his bank account number while carrying out the transaction.”