Mumbai: Dry day stress leaves Khar resident lighter by Rs 38,000

Illustration/Uday Mohite

Khar resident Siddhant Nainendra's desire to store liquor ahead of election day made him a victim in a Rs 38,000 online cheating case. He came across the fraudster after checking for numbers online of wine shops that delivered alcohol home. He then placed an order worth Rs 9,000 and shared his credit card details as well. Even as he kept waiting for his order to be confirmed, Rs 38,000 got deducted from his card.

Speaking to mid-day, Nainendra, who works with a corporate firm, said, "I was in the middle of some work when all of this happened. I was looking for a liquor shop in Khar online when I came across the fraudster's details. As I wanted to store liquor ahead of election day, I placed an order of Rs 9,000 with him and shared my credit card details for payment. A few minutes later, I realised that I had been duped. I then approached the Khar police station and registered a complaint in the matter."

However, according to the police, this is not the first case reported from the area. They said most of these cases go unregistered as the complainants either don't have the time to approach police or the amounts they get cheated of are negligible.

Requesting anonymity, a police officer said, "In the last four months, about 20 cases have come to the fore. All the victims are either residents of Bandra or Khar."

"The fraudsters pose as potential liquor sellers online and whenever buyers place orders with them, they ask for their credit card details. This way they dupe buyers of huge amounts of money while the liquor never gets delivered," the officer added. The city police have formed a special squad to fight this menace.

When contacted, additional commissioner of police (west) region, Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma said, "It could be the handiwork of an inter-state gang who have been targeting victims across the country. A special team has been formed to investigate the matter. We request citizens to be cautious while making online transactions."

20
No. of such cases with cops in the last four months

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