At least 25 people a month duped by people posing as army personnel on OLX India

“The man said he was based in Jamnagar and that he had been transferred to an army base in Pune, Maharashtra and therefore wanted to sell the bike,” Sain said. “We spoke over the phone for a few days during which he inspired trust by sending me pictures of his identification document. Then he demanded Rs 5,000 to ship the motorcycle from Jamnagar to Ahmedabad.”

Sain said that because his father was an army veteran and he himself was an army aspirant, he “did not think twice” and transferred the money online. “A few days later, ‘Sanjay’ demanded Rs 17,000 as ‘security deposit’ claiming that he was adhering to the shipping policy of Indian army personnel,” Sain said. “He even handed me a receipt on whatsapp. He kept demanding money in small amounts till I gave him total of Rs 63,500. Then he blocked my number and I never received any vehicle.”.

Similar is the case of 25-year-old Akshay Hansrajani, a non-teaching staff member at Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad who told the police cyber cell that he was cheated of Rs 7,000, trying to purchase a refrigerator on OLX India.

“The seller identified himself as Shyam Kumar from the Indian Army and said he was being transferred from his current base. He also said things like ‘Army is here for my service and Indian Army is for the people’ to gain my trust,” Hansrajani said. “He then demanded Rs 7,000 in advance as transportation cost. When I was about to transfer the amount using UPI ID on Paytm, I noticed that the bank account belonged to one Uday Singh. When I cross checked with him, he said the account belonged to his commanding officer. After I transferred the amount, he switched off his cell phone.”

Officials of the Cyber Crime Cell said that gangs in villages of Mewat region in Bharatpur of Rajasthan were the ones perpetrating the fraud, and that they had no connection with the Indian Army. “The IP address location points to two villages, Padla and Gehri Mewat, in Deeg tehsil of Bharatpur in Rajasthan. Almost a month-and-a-half ago, a team visited the place to arrest one Mohammad Imran accused in such a case. Our team faced assault from the local villagers who shielded the accused,” Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Cell, Jitendra Yadav said.

The modus operandi of the fraudsters is the same in all the cases: gullible buyers are offered seemingly low prices for a vehicle or electronic gadget and then demanded a shipping charge. The fraudsters exploit the trust associated with the Indian Army, due to which the victims don’t hesitate to send them money through electronic transfer. “The victims in these cases never physically check the product they wish to purchase and are drawn towards the trap with the offer of low price as bait,” said Yadav.

How the fraudsters manage to develop this trust with the victim is by using genuine identity cards, which the police say are stolen. “The ID card and identity of the army persons are stolen by the gangs through social media. The gangs contact genuine army persons on OLX for sale and purchase of products and demand that they be sent photos of their ID cards as proof. This is how they commit the identity theft,” Yadav added.

Manan Khan, an Uttarakhand-based BCom student has been running a social media campaign against such frauds done on OLX India. He says that the victims are from all over India, including Ahmedabad.

“I am in contact with 12 victims from Ahmedabad and similar cases have come up in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi-NCR and even Kerala where people have been duped. These gangs also bring a bad name to the army. In the majority of cases, the accused have demanded money in advance for transportation cost and then switched off their cellphones. The attitude of the police has been disappointing in all the cases,” Khan said.

In a statement issued, Lavanya Chandan, General Counsel, OLX India said, “The safety of our users is of extreme importance to us. To ensure that our users transact safely, we invest heavily in sensitising them through various channels both on and off the platform. Specifically, we urge our users to avoid travelling to remote areas and exercise caution while placing reliance on identification cards as they could be fake. We have built strong relationships with law enforcement agencies and continuously assist them in bringing fraudsters to justice. Through your channels, I would like to urge users to exercise caution and practice safety tips for a great experience on OLX.”