Man Caught Sneakily Switching Mosque Donation QR Codes With His Personal Account
It is believed that the perpetrator has done this at two mosques around Jakarta.
By Khadijah Amir — 12 Apr 2023, 12:08 PM
Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of an Indonesian man pasting QR codes for his personal bank account on boxes intended for mosque donations has gone viral on social media
The incident took place last Thursday, 6 April, at the Nurul Iman Blok M Square Mosque located in South Jakarta, Indonesia.
The footage has since circulated on social media, pushing the South Jakarta Metro Police to investigate. Through further investigation, police found that this is not the first time the man has used his personal bank account QR code to replace the QR codes at mosques intended to receive donations from visitors.
As reported by Antara News, the perpetrator has done the same at Nurullah Kalibata City Mosque in Kalibata City, South Jakarta.
The mosque committee called local authorities after noticing that donation boxes which previously did not have QR codes suddenly had stickers on them
Nurul Iman Blok M Square Mosque committee secretary Habibi Katin stated the committee grew suspicious and checked all the donation boxes, and found an unusual amount of QR code stickers that were previously not there.
Apparently, the man replaced the stickers at 10.30am Indonesian time, and the mosque committee only discovered the crime half an hour later after checking the footage.
Katin added that the man replaced the stickers before the mosque opened for the day.
The mosque committee has confirmed that the QR codes have since been replaced with new, legitimate ones for donations.
The man was arrested on Tuesday, 11 April, by the South Jakarta Metro Police
According to Antara News, he was arrested in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta, and the money has been returned to the mosque.
The man's intentions, however, were unstated.
The police have identified one victim of the fraudulent donation from a mosque in Keboyoran Lama, and urged other victims who have unknowingly donated to the fake QR code to come forward to receive compensation.
South Jakarta Metro Police chief Irwandhy Idrus stated that this was not a new method for scammers, as there have been multiple occurrences with the same modus operandi at mosques around Jakarta.
He advised donators to check the details of the QR code to ensure that they are donating to the right person.
