Online buyers in the city are complaining of being cheated of their money after attempting to purchase goods through classifieds portals including the well-known OLX and Quikr that merely serve as a link between buyer and seller. This kind of fraud is on the rise in the city with 14 cases registered by the police so far this year and more complaints from victims pouring in.
Not all victims might be coming forward to complain, police sources said.College student Anandraj. K. Chandran, a native of Chengalpattu, had always longed for an iPhone and when he spotted an attractive discount offer for a 5S handset on www.quikr.com in mid-January, he eagerly contacted the mobile phone number mentioned in the ad. “They offered me a handset for Rs. 20,000 stating that it was part of an Indian Customs seizure. A woman claiming to be a Customs officer called me and spoke in broken English, asking me to deposit the money online. I deposited a total of Rs. 34,800 in three instalments but I never received the phone,” Anandraj said. The youth got the first hint that he had been conned only when the fraudsters asked him to deposit an additional Rs. 50,000 towards the procurement of a so-called anti-terrorism certificate.In another case, civil engineer R. Saravanan from Ramapuram and his friend posted a request on www.olx.in in a quest to buy electronic goods including phones and laptops for low prices.
“A man claiming to be an employee of Chennai Airport contacted us by phone and offered to sell an iPhone, two laptops, including a MacBook, at a meeting on the airport premises. He even sent us an ID card of an airport staff claiming to be his,” he added. Two weeks ago, the engineer and his friend made an online transfer of Rs. 1.05 lakh to the bank account based in Pattukkottai given by the fraudster, who subsequently siphoned off the sum. “Shockingly, the culprit attends our phone calls even now and taunts us, saying that the police cannot track him and if he feels pity for us, he may return the money,” said Saravanan.The Central Crime Branch of the city police has formed a special team and begun a probe into escalating fraud on classifieds websites. Police have advised net users to exercise caution while purchasing products online and strictly refrain from making online money transfers without some sort of solid guarantee from sellers.