Fake bloggers hoodwink Old City’s gullible traders

HYDERABAD: Traders of the Old City who are running in losses due to a drastic fall in their sales are getting cheated as they attempt to take their business online.

Ever since the outbreak of the pandemic, a very large portion of the shopping is being done online and the goods are delivered at the doorstep. Not only branded shops, even smaller kiosks are totally dependent on online business.

There are more than 900 traders dealing with crockery, restaurants, jewellery shops, cloth merchants and wholesalers having shops on the main roads of Madina to Shalibanda, Chatta Bazar, Mahbub Chowk, Lad Bazaar, Patel Market and surrounding areas, and many of them intend to go online.

Many shop owners who do not have knowledge in these matters, were cheated by these fraudsters, Mohammed Idris, who runs Muskaan Garments at Pathergatti said. Most showrooms in Pathergatti and Gulzar Houz and Madina have stopped entertaining them.   

“Two men approached me stating that they would display my wares online. I offered them tea and snacks. They convinced me by showing a YouTube video on their mobile phone, assuring me that they had been blogging in other states and had earned huge profits for the shops there,” said Mohammed Javed, owner of a wholesale garment shop in Madina.

“I allowed them to film my material. Before leaving, they demanded Rs 10,000. Finally, they agreed for Rs 3,800 and left after taking my number. Two months have passed and there is no reply from them,” Javed said, adding, “I did not approach the police as there is no evidence against them.”

For the past two years, these businessmen have been complaining that their counter sales have fallen and hiring some genuine bloggers to advertise their products online. Most of the traders got good response to online business as genuine bloggers displayed their products, offered special discounts and provided phone numbers on their YouTube.

“Some unknown person recently called me and told me that he was a blogger, but I knew he was a fraud as several people were cheated by these people. They collect whatever they get from the traders and never return. Traders hesitate to lodge a police complaint,” said Navid Salman of Noorkhan Bazaar, who runs a food court, Dakhni Dastarkhan.

“Victims should immediately lodge a complaint at the local police. Even if they provide any information about these fraudsters, we will take stringent action against them,” said Syed Rafiq, South Zone additional DCP.