Interstate gang defrauding e-commerce firms busted, 5 held

In a statement on Saturday, the Crime Branch DCP Ajit Rajian said, “The gang’s strategy was as calculated as it was deceptive. The masterminds first placed their associates as delivery boys within courier services across major cities including Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Surat of Gujarat, and Jalore, Rajasthan. Then, using multiple fake user IDs and passwords, the gang placed orders for expensive gadgets. Before the delivery reached the “customer,” the insider delivery boy would intercept the package.”

On how the swap was carried out, the statement said, “Using specialised tools, the suspects would carefully open the parcels, remove the original high-end product, and replace it with a dummy lookalike. Once the original product was secured, the order was officially “canceled” or returned. The gang then sold the authentic products on the black market for profit.”

The Crime Branch said it recovered a variety of items, both stolen and dummy items including 8 Authentic Mobile Phones, 25 Dummy Mobile Phones, 3 Dummy Earbuds, 12 Dummy Gaming Processors, 1 Camera Lens, and 1 Electric Hair Dryer.

The ‘scam kit’ items seized by the police included 3 Glue Remover bottles, 14 Plastic Syringes (for precise adhesive application), 2 Specialized steel tools for opening parcels, and various packaging materials (Seallotape and Parcel Rolls).

A Mahindra Scorpio, used for transporting illicit goods was also seized.

The Crime Branch said the accused persons allegedly confessed to at least 3 previous crimes including the fraudulent acquisition of an iPhone 17 Pro Max and three iPhone 16 Pro units in Vadodara in January 2026, seven Android Mobile Phones and 10 Apple watches in Surat in October 2025, and two Apple watches in Jalore in December 2025.