Ecommerce Robberies Reaches New Level: Fake Mother-Son Duo Dupe Snapdeal Of Rs 8.16L Worth of iPhones
E-commerce robbery in India is now a rising phenomenon, and a new case has emerged which overshadows all previous cases of cheating and fraud. A fake mother-son duo duped Snapdeal and other ecommerce portals of Rs 8.16 lakh worth iPhones.
But before we describe this case in detail, let us inform that anti-social elements and cheaters exist in every niche, every industry. Only because tracking and investigating ecommerce cheating is easier to do, we are able to unearth the cheaters.
The purpose here is not to show how easy it is to rob an ecommerce company; but the objective is to beware startups, entrepreneurs and customers of these cheating mechanism, and stop such activities which is harming the industry.
The Strategy of Cheating
Anita Shirish Kulkarni from Dombivli, aged 49 years and Mobin Yusuf Mahafule, aged 24 years from Naupada in Mumbai rented a flat at Kharghar’s Eden Garden Sector-5. Using fake documents, they renamed themselves as Anita and Siddharth Chabra, and acted like mother-son.
The process of cheating started with them ordering iPhones with cash on delivery option.
As soon as the delivery boy arrived at their residence, one of them engaged the delivery personal in some talks, and the other went inside the home, exchanged the actual delivery with a similar box containing a fake handset.
Once exchanged, they would inform the ignorant delivery boy that the phone is defective.
Using this strategy, they were able to rob 17 iPhones, worth Rs 8.16 lakh.
Snapdeal Initiates Action
After investigating such similar cases, all originating from the single source, Snapdeal understood that its a plain fraud and robbery; and contacted Mumbai police for stopping this. Once police raided their home, they found all the original iPhones at their residence.
Navi Mumbai deputy commissioner of Police (crime) Dilip Sawant, said, “After Snapdeal lodged a complaint against the ‘mother-son’ duo, crime branch sleuths raided their Kharghar flat and seized 17 iPhones worth a total Rs 8.16 lakh. We have urged other e-tailers to come forward and register complaints against them,”
It seems these were experienced and veteran cheaters, as police discovered similar cases of cheating and fraud against them at Ahmedabad, Pune and Thane.
They both have been arrested under IPC sections 420, 465,468, 469, 471 and 34 for cheating and forgery by Kharghar police dept. Police have requested other ecommerce retailers to come out and assist police in unearthing similar frauds.
Related:
Punjab Cheats Flipkart Of Rs 80 Lakh; Police Arrests The Gang Members
Flipkart Investigates Online Shopping Fraud Leading To Arrest of 2 Techies
Flipkart Bans 250 Sellers Through its ‘Mystery Shopping’ Exercise
This is shocking. We should really be aware of such incidents. Thank you for sharing this with us. This will really help us to avoid such situations. I am also running an eCommerce business and I will definitely be aware of such incidents.