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A Delhi man successfully outsmarted a scammer impersonating an IAS officer by using ChatGPT. He generated a fake payment link to capture the fraudster's GPS location and photograph. The scammer, involved in an "Army transfer" scheme, was exposed and later apologised, swearing to stop. This incident was shared on Reddit.

New Delhi: A man in Delhi managed to outsmart a scammer and made him beg for forgiveness. He used ChatGPT to create a fake payment link that captured the scammer’s geographical location and a photograph of his face. The man shared the incident on Reddit.

This incident began when the man received a message on Facebook from someone impersonating his college senior, an IAS officer. The scammer claimed that a friend, who is a CRPF officer, was being transferred and was selling high-end appliances and furniture at heavily discounted prices.

The man immediately sensed something suspicious, as his senior already had his number, so why would he contact him on Facebook? When he confirmed through WhatsApp that the message was fake, it became clear he was interacting with a fraudster running a classic “Army transfer/cheap goods” scam.

He then decided to play along and expose the scammer’s operation. After some time, the fraudster contacted the man using a different mobile number with an army profile picture. The scammer sent a QR code and demanded payment; however, the Delhi man kept stalling him by pretending to have a technical glitch while scanning it.

In the meantime, the Delhi man used ChatGPT to generate code for a simple webpage disguised as a QR upload/payment portal.

He did this to capture the scammer’s GPS location and take a picture using the device’s front camera. He hosted the tracker page and sent the link to the scammer, telling him that uploading the QR code there would “expedite the payment process”.

Then the scammer clicked the link, after which the webpage designed by ChatGPT captured the scammer’s exact GPS coordinates, IP address, and a clear photo of his face. The Delhi man then sent the scammer his own photo and location details.

“Rajasthan police has been sent to your location, enjoy your stay in jail,” the Delhi man texted the scammer. The scammer then apologised to the man and said “ma kasam ab nahi karunga ye kaam.” This roughly translates to, “I swear on my mother, I will not do this again.”