There is an old proverb which rings ‘bell’ everytime I see some unprecedented marketing campaign: “If it’s too good to be true, then it probably is..”
Something similar has happened with Freedom 251, the smartphone which is being offered at earth-shattering price of Rs 251 by a little known company called ‘Ringing Bells’. The bookings started today morning, and as per messages received by the some people, the website received 6 lakh hits a second.
Even the majestic Amazon Cloud couldn’t handle this onslaught of traffic, and the website crashed.
Social media is right now ignited with the news and reports of Freedom 251, as thousands and thousands of tech enthusiast attempted to book a unit of this new disruption in tech world.
We attempt to analyse logically, the truth behind Freedom 251, and try to decode whether its a scam or its a genuine offering from a new hotshot company which is attempting something never tried before?
We will first give them benefit of doubt, and present two reasons which prove that its not a scam:
Contents
Two Reasons it is NOT a Scam
a) Political leaders have launched this product
At a glittering event, veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi launched this handset in Delhi. Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar was also expected to attend this event, but he failed to turn up.
b) Ownership Is Clear
The company’s owners are not hiding and have presented themselves to be scrutinized. Here is the Facebook profile of the founder Mohit Goel, who goes by the name ‘CuteMohit’; besides, all the founders of this company have come out in the open in today’s full page ad on TOI and mentioned that the handsets would be delivered in June.
Four Reasons IT IS a Scam
a) The actual product is a shady rebranded ripoff:
Sample unit of Freedom 251 was reviewed by Hindustan Times, and they found that it’s a shady, rebranded ripoff of a smartphone sold by a company named Adcom, which is a Delhi based importer of gadgets and electronic products. And, Marketing Manager of Adcom has said, “We have no idea that our branding is being used on the Freedom 251.. We will look into this.”
Adcom A400, the handset which is being allegedly rebranded (without their permission) was launched 2 years ago. Hence, it can be a possibility that Ringing Bells are now reselling the old stock at lower price.
The most hilarious thing is that, the logo of Adcom is hidden by a whitener. No genuine company selling a smartphone shall do that.. Never!
Interestingly, the handset which has been rebranded is sold for Rs 4000 by Adcom. How will a new company rebrand it and sell the same for Rs 251? A huge red flag for scam alert here.
b) Promises Broken:
As per the specifications mentioned in their website, this smartphone will be pre-loaded with several apps such as Swatch Bharat, Women Safety App, Facebook, Whatsapp and more. But the review unit didn’t had any such app. Besides, the actual handset received by HT is entirely different from the handset which is being shown on their website and the full page ads in newspapers.
Infact, the icons & browser seems a direct copy of iOS icons and Safari browser.
c) Unrealistic/Infeasible Pricing:
Mobile Industry Body Indian Cellular Association (ICA) has written to Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, asking him to look into this matter, as there is no way any company can sell such a handset below Rs 2700, even after considering all discount factors.
ICA President said, “For your kind information, the bill of material (BOM) value for a product like this when sourced from the cheapest supply chain cost approximately USD 40 (Rs 2,700).”
Considering that this handset feature 4-inch display, Qualcomm 1.3-GHz quad-core processor and 1 GB RAM; the individual cost of each component itself will be far more than Rs 251.
d) Not Govt. Approved:
Ringing Bell, the parent company behind the scintillating offer is not listed under Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which means that they are not certified to sell any product in India. This is a major red flag alert, which indicates that it’s a scam. And, there are no address mentioned on their website; the copy which they have written describing the advantages and features are all amateurish, and the Tweets they are sending are unprofessional to say the least.
Only time will tell about the truth, which would be revealed on June 30th, when Ringing Bells will deliver the first batch of their Freedom 251 handsets.
Do share your opinion and feedback on this case.
[…] got suspicious when Ringing Bills wasn’t able to manage such a huge demand, resulting into the crash of its website. It is worth noting that Freedom 251 as per the company’s claim packs a 4 inch […]
end of day, he might deliver few phones to initial few people. get million more orders. keep money for few months and then refund all who registered for phone. By that time he would have made enough interest gained. standard cheating pattern!
c) Unrealistic/Infeasible Pricing:
Mobile Industry Body Indian Cellular Association (ICA) has written to Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, asking him to look into this matter, as there is no way any company can sell such a handset below Rs 2700, even after considering all discount factors.
ICA President said, “For your kind information, the bill of material (BOM) value for a product like this when sourced from the cheapest supply chain cost approximately USD 40 (Rs 2,700).”
Considering that this handset feature 4-inch display, Qualcomm 1.3-GHz quad-core processor and 1 GB RAM; the individual cost of each component itself will be far more than Rs 251.
[…] […]
cost may be anything but price can always be much less if the business model is well planned
this is clearly shown that they made fool to indian people.. Shivam Sharma i think u are with them and making money with them.. if somebody find u they will kick u in your ass.. stay alart all indian people.. every news channel says its a scam.. u can find it in google
It is an easiest way to collect money. You do not need to take loan from Bank and you do not have to pay interest too. Fool the people at smart way. Offer unbelievable price. Manipulate everyone’s mind. Fool at least 40 million people for Rupees 250 each and earn 10000 million rupees. Escape from India and settle to abroad. It is also a fact that non of any major Chinese manufacturer can produce a smartphone at below 10 dollar price. It is the world first smartphone that’s 32 gb microsd card is expensive than the phone.
I suspect this is a contact address fishing scam all the unsuspected aspirants would have submitted valid contact addresses, (because mobile need to be delivered right ?) with genuine email ids ( even if gmail/yahoo/..) and when the submission did not work some intelligent public would have tried submitting their official email ids also and a valid mobile phone no. lest they miss the opportunity for the want of correct information. Validated fishing scam
Now please note the below from their privacy policy
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” Creating accounts, and purchasing or registering products or services
If you submit requests online to create an account or to purchase or register our products or services, we may ask you to provide information, such as your email address, delivery address, phone number, product information, time of purchase, and method of payment to implement your purchase orders, deliver your products or services, activate or verify your products, make changes upon your request, provide technical support or authorized updates, and more. ”
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the privacy policy does not say that whatever they collect would not be shared or sold. cool!
So for the advertisement cost they have obtained 6 lakhs or more validated contact details , we do not know how much they may resell this information for !!!! cool chill out
Ya Mohul.. this phone is a relabelled phone just like your relabelled hindustan times article which I read yest.
This in fact looks like a great opportunity for marketing seized by this company. If not for anything then these guys have quickly earned a name, now just waiting for the actual product to be delivered to the masses which actually seems like a distant dream as of now!
Maha Chutiyapa hai ye..
If we people can not appreciate the things or products which is purely made in India & made for only Indian, then we should not demoralized the innovative step of those people who are ready to tell the power/creativity of the country .
If this smartphone were launched by any Chinese or Japenese company, then we easily accept the product. But when our engineers or technicians trying to do something different then we are not ready to accept this. Please wait for sometime & decide it’s fraud or scam. First see what they are going to do
Trust on our country, believe in our product, believe in India. It’s India Guys, proud to be Indian. We are the strength of your country. We are the nation builders.
Love my India. Proud of my country. We are the best. Jai Hind ……Jai Bharat
abe , ye ADCOM ka mobile hai re! no standard company will steal other brand and keep it same with just whitener! what a cheap and childish! certainly a scam!
kya chutiya bana raha hai ye freedom251
i think this is possible in india only………………
true man
Well written