When the parcel from an e-commerce platform landed at his doorstep, young Nooral Ameen could barely contain the excitement of holding his brand new Apple iPhone.
But, his dream phone was missing from the neatly packed box. Instead, the box contained a soap and a ₹5 coin. That he was shocked would be an understatement, as he had already paid ₹70,900 for the product.
However, Ameen took videos and pictures of unpacking the box in the presence of the delivery executive as he remembered another victim of a similar fraud doing the same. The victim from North Paravur had received well-packed newspapers instead of a laptop worth ₹1.50 lakh that he had ordered. He had later received a refund, thanks to the intervention of the Ernakulam Rural police.
Ameen wasted no time in lodging a petition with the Rural police. That proved critical as he eventually got a complete refund of his money.
The special cyber squad formed by District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) K. Karthick got in touch with the e-commerce platform. The original cover of the iPhone in which the fake parcel was delivered had the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, helping the squad track down the phone.
It was found that the phone was in use in Jharkhand. However, the phone which was ordered only in October was found to have been registered with Apple a month before.
The investigation team also contacted the dealer distributing the phone. Even as the probe was under way, the dealer chose to refund the money as the phone was not in stock. “Notwithstanding the refund, we will continue the probe,” said Mr. Karthick.
