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An Indonesian man was arrested for placing fake QR code stickers on charity boxes in several mosques in Jakarta, Indonesia.

He made the fake QR codes using an application before printing them into stickers and pasting them across 38 different locations.

According to the police, he carried out the act alone.

Fake QR code stickers pasted

On Apr. 6, a man was captured on surveillance footage changing the QR code for a charity box.

The incident occurred at Nurul Iman Mosque, Block M Square located in South Jakarta at 10.37am, Berita Satu reported.

The CCTV footage, which was uploaded on social media, showed a spectacled man in a long-sleeved navy shirt and denim shirt walking towards the mosque's donation boxes.

After monitoring his surroundings, he pasted QR code stickers on several charity boxes.

"Be careful," the Instagram user cautioned in a caption. "There has been fraud [carried out by] changing the QR code on donation boxes."

He also uploaded a side-by-side comparison of the fake QR code and the real QR code.

The fake QR code said money donated will be used for "restorasi masjid" (mosque restoration) while the real QR code simply reads "Masjid Nurul Iman block M Square".

You can watch the man caught in action here:

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by reda samudera (@redasamudera.id)

Fake QR code discovered three days later

The fake QR code was discovered three days later, on Apr. 9, according to Berita Satu.

One of the marabouts had noticed the sticker on the wall and asked the mosque's caretaker about it.

The caretaker admitted he did not know who placed the QR code there.

Upon checking, they realised there were other fake QR codes taped at several places across the mosque.

The incident was then reported to the police.

Suspect arrested, used to be manager at a bank

The mastermind behind the fake QR code was arrested two days later, on Apr. 11, CNN Indonesia reported.

The suspect was 38-year-old Mohammad Iman Mahlil Lubis, who used to work in a state-owned bank.

"Regarding his background, he has worked at one of the state-owned banks," the director of Special Criminal Investigation Auliansyah Lubis told reporters on Apr. 11.

A quick look at Iman's LinkedIn showed that he had worked at one of the largest state-owned banks in Indonesia, Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), for 12 years.

He held a managerial position in BRI for five years before leaving to work as a managing director at AFL Corporation Fraud Examiner & Investigator.

Fake QR code pasted at 38 other locations

CNN Indonesia reported that the suspect started creating QR barcodes through applications like Youtap and Pulsapay since Mar. 23.

Iman then printed the barcodes as stickers which were then placed at 38 different locations in Jakarta, including 26 mosques, banks, and malls.

Based on investigations, Iman only started pasting fake QR codes since the beginning of April 2023.

It is unclear how much money have been received through the fake barcodes, but police said there were reports from victims who had transferred money to the fake account.

Head of Public Relations of Greater Jakarta Metropolitan Regional Police, Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko, said Iman carried out his crimes alone, Berita Satu reported.

Investigation ongoing

At the moment, anyone who wished to set up a QR code for their bank account must go to a Bank Indonesia-licensed payment service provider, Jakarta Globe reported.

Bank Indonesia said it will not disclose the name of the payment service provider who issued the QR code for Iman as the case is still under police investigation.

It is looking for other potential fraudsters who abuse the QR code system for scams.

Bank Indonesia has coordinated with the payment service provider to block the “Mosque Restoration” QR code, according to Liputan6.

Iman has been charged with multiple articles related to fraud and electronic transaction information, with a maximum sentence of more than five years in prison and fines, Berita Satu reported.

Police are currently investigating if Iman had pasted the fraudulent stickers at other locations and if he had done so before April 2023.

Top image via @redasamudera.id/Instagram.