CHENNAI: The city police have launched a search for a man who has allegedly defrauded mobile phone showrooms across the city by buying phones and fakes payment for the phone by using an app that allegedly creates screenshots of United Payments Interface (UPI) payments.

According to police sources, the accused had targeted stores in Valasaravakkam, Kodungaiyur and surrounding areas. After engaging the sales staff, he selects a handset, and after they pack the phones, he pretends to make a UPI payment. The man then shows the sales executives a payment success message and leaves the premises with the phone.

The fraud is detected only when the shopkeepers check their bank accounts. Some mobile shop owners have filed a complaint at the Valasaravakkam police station, alleging that similar incidents were being reported in shops in north Chennai, too, and urged police to take immediate action.