“Tasmac wine shop home delivery. Online payment, phone pay and Google Pay accepted. Good Service Wine” -- reads an advertisement on a social media page called Tasmac wine shop, with a phone number provided.
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This is one of the many fake Tasmac pages offering 24-hour door delivery of alcohol, that have emerged on social media platforms especially after Tasmac shops were closed due to the lockdown.
The police have asked people not to fall prey to such fake advertisements and lose their money. Sources from Tasmac said that a police complaint has been given to take action against people who have been circulating fake websites, social media pages and mobile applications claiming to sell alcohol online
“When someone contacts the number, they ask for 50 % of the payment through the online mode and the remaining, they say, can be paid to the delivery agents. However, after the payment, the number will not be reachable,” said a police officer.
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Sometimes the conmen ask for the debit card number and OTP and swipe the customer’s bank account clean. One of the latest victims of this con job is 30-year-old Ramesh (name changed) from Nepal who has been working as an LPG cylinder delivery agent in Chennai for the past few years.
“I wanted to purchase a bottle of whiskey and when I searched online, I found a number,” says Ramesh. When he contacted the number, the person on the other end of the call told him that he would have to pay 10 % of the total price online and the remaining he had to hand over to the delivery person.
“Trusting them, I gave my debit card details and they asked me for an OTP. I shared it and in a matter of minutes, ₹25,000 was swindled from my account and I was left with only ₹900,” he said. When he tried to contact them again, the automated response was in Odiya. However he is yet to lodge a complaint online.
Cyber law experts said that States that have began online sales of alcohol have to gear up to tackle online frauds too. “For cyber criminals, the serpentine queues in front of liquor shops showed that they had a large group that can be targeted. Most often people are cheated through phishing websites, SMS and emails,” said Pavan Duggal, cyber law expert and chairman, International Commission on Cyber Security Law. “Neither the people nor the law enforcement agencies are geared to handle the problem,” he added.
D. Dhanasekaran, general secretary, Tasmac Workers Association, said that the government should create awareness among people about the online frauds. “Such pages should be blocked and a police complaint should be given. Besides people should also be sensible and not fall prey to such criminals,” he said.
Vijaya Kumar, president, Varutthapadatha Vakkalargal Sangam said that he had already lodged a complaint about such frauds at the City Police Commissioner’s office and had also written to Tasmac to create awareness about such frauds
Sources from the Cyber Wing of the city police said that they had received information about such a crime, but are yet to receive a formal complaint.