THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It seems online sales frauds, who have been active in north India and other states, have now shifted their focus to Kerala. A complaint filed with the rural SP recently by a woman from Neyyattinkara suggests this trend.
According to rural SP Rajpal Meena, it was during July that a woman from Neyyattinkara filed a complaint saying that she was swindled of Rs 25,000 when she tried to purchase a gadget online. “As per the complaint, she was cheated after she ordered the gadget via an online selling site. The website is a type of second-hand goods marketing platform. On that website she had found an advertisement about a used gadget and an email id was provided,” the SP said.
The woman then contacted the e mail id provided in the site and paid Rs 25,000 as suggested. The fraud came to light when she received the parcel which carried a gadget that was worth just Rs 10,000. “We have started an investigation and it has been found out that the mail id used for the cheating was operated from Delhi region. So, we have extended our investigation to that area, in order to track down the culprits,” said SP Rajpal Meena.
While this type of looting via online platforms has been common in other states, the cases were rare in the state. But this recent incident indicates a situation that the north Indian lobby, which was once active in other states, has shifted its focus to Kerala, suspect the police. Though only this one case was filed here, this may not be an isolated incident, as many such misleading advertisements have been appearing in social media sites. This type of messages are also being passed as emails also. Though there are many instructions from the authorities to keep a distance from such fraudulent messages, people are falling prey to such cheating repeatedly, say the law enforcers.