No let-up in OLX frauds as woman duped of Rs20k

Strap: Fake IDs of Army men being used to authenticate credentials

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, June 26

Four days ago, Pooja Aggarwal (name changed) saw an advertisement for a used Activa Honda scooter on OLX. It was coming cheap at Rs 25,000 (negotiable). The person, who had posted it under the name of Sahil Kumar, claimed to be from the Army posted at Jalandhar Cantt.

Pooja contacted him on the number 7735454968, which she took from his OLX profile, and he told her that he wanted to sell the scooter as soon as possible as he was being transferred out of Jalandhar.

He also sent a picture of the scooter, his ‘ID card’ and other documents to authenticate his credibility (snapshots of his OLX profile, chat, and documents are in possession with The Tribune).

Convinced by the picture in uniform, Pooja agreed to buy the scooter and Sahil asked her to pay Rs 3,000 as ‘security deposit’ and assured her once he receives the security amount, he will courier the scooter to Pooja’s residence within an hour.

Pooja agreed to this and made a payment of Rs 3,000 via Google Pay. On receiving the amount, Sahil sent her a photo of the receipt of Rs 3,000 via WhatsApp.

The receipt was issued under the name — ‘Veer Bharat Senani’ — and the contact number mentioned above and the number of the delivery boy were printed on it, along with other particulars of the sender. Later, on the pretext that the security amount has been increased by the Army wing, he again asked Rs 2,000 from Pooja, and said if she failed to deposit that she would lose her Rs 3,000 as well.

Likewise, keeping forward one or the other reasons, both Sahil and the delivery boy duped her of

Rs 20,000.

Meanwhile, when Pooja realised that this was no genuine deal, she threatened them to report to the police. However, what came as more shocking was that the delivery boy asked her if she required any help in reporting to the police. He told her that no matter whom she reports, their identity will never be revealed.

In another incident, Chetan Saluja, a photographer from the city, faced a similar incident 10 days ago, wherein a person imposing as an Air Force officer posted an ad selling a professional camera for Rs 32,500 only.

However, his smartness at the time of making the deal saved him from becoming a prey to these fraudsters.

He said he just lost Rs 500 and soon figured out that the person in the ID was an imposter.

When contacted, Palvinder Singh, CEO and founder of Secuneus Technologies, which deals in cyber security, said these OLX frauds were first reported in Rajasthan and Odisha. Some gangs were also busted. “But it seems that it’s a big racket in which hundreds of people from across the nation are part of it,” he said.

He said his firm had been working closely with cyber cells of various states and there had been a spurt in such incidents. Cases had also been reported from Ludhiana and Mohali. “A proper mechanism is being followed from forging documents to creating fake OLX profiles and tele-calling. People must avoid making any advance payments. They should pay only when they receive and examine the product in hand”, Palvinder added.

Meanwhile, in-charge, cyber crime cell, Jalandhar, Monika said such frauds had been taking place for long now. “Two years ago, there had been a number of complaints regarding this. We also arrested a few persons involved in this crime, but recently no such complaint has been received. People must remain alert,” she added.