Tech-savvy criminals cheat online buyers

Visakhapatnam: Tech-savvy cyber criminals, in their search for new ways to dupe people, are now doing so through OLX, an online classified e-retail website that handles second-hand goods. The fraudsters’ modus operandi has been to upload images of vehicles, phones and other articles on the site, saying they were for sale and making buyers deposit money in a bank which they would withdraw and flee.

K. Sudhir Kumar of Tagarapuvalasa is the most recent victim of such fraud, having been  duped to the tune of Rs 17,000.  Police said that Kumar visited advertisements posted on the OLX website, contacted ‘Harminder’, who wanted to sell his Microsoft Lumia phone first for Rs 45,000, and finally, for only Rs 17,000. Sudhir deposited the amount in a bank account, never to see the money again nor the phone.

Students seem to be particularly vulnerable to such quick-fixes and lures. A  B.Tech student was duped to the tune of Rs 1.25 lakh, said inspector of Arilova Police Station Ch. Dhanunjaya Naidu. The fraudster, posing as a software professional, posted an advertisement on OLX, saying that he would soon be flying to the US and wanted to sell his Hyundai  Verna car for Rs 4 lakh.

When the B.Tech student phoned him, the man said that the car was parked at the airport and he could have it if he paid the amount in a bank account. The student deposited Rs 1.25 lakh as advance, and realised when he went to the airport that he had been duped.

The police said that the same man had similarly cheated two other people in the city, their method being to upload the images of items for sale a day before the genuine owner wanted to sell them on OLX. Inspector of the Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC) K.S. Rao said they had been receiving complaints from students who had been cheated via the website and had begun investigations.