Bengaluru police arrest Gujarat trio for cheating Meesho out of Rs 5.5 crore with fake returns
A Gujarat-based seller allegedly conspired with third-party agents and fraudulently obtained reimbursements by claiming that returned packages contained damaged goods.
2 min read
These fake buyers placed around 2,500 orders on Meesho from Om Sai Fashion. (Image: meesho.io)In a major cybercrime bust, the Bengaluru police have arrested three men from Gujarat for allegedly manipulating Meesho’s return policy and causing losses of Rs 5.5 crore to the e-commerce platform in seven months.
Commissioner of Police B Dayananda said on Tuesday that the trio—Uttam Kumar, Parthbhai and Maulik—were arrested from a makeshift commercial setup in Surat, adding that three more people wanted in the case remain at large.
The operation followed a complaint lodged by Meesho’s nodal officer with the cybercrime police at the commissioner’s office. The complainant alleged that a Gujarat-based seller, Om Sai Fashion, conspired with third-party agents to create fake buyer accounts, leading to massive financial fraud that took place between January and July. Investigations revealed the suspects fabricated hundreds of consumer profiles with false addresses and phone numbers.
These fake buyers placed around 2,500 orders on Meesho from Om Sai Fashion. All shipments were returned owing to invalid delivery addresses. The suspects then filmed opened packages and submitted the videos to Meesho to claim reimbursements stating that the returned parcels contained damaged items.
An audit of Meesho’s records flagged discrepancies, leading to suspicions and subsequent police action. Investigators traced the fraudulent transactions to two bank accounts linked to Om Sai Fashion. The suspects have admitted to orchestrating the scheme, the police said.
Further scrutiny uncovered a 2023 case booked at the Whitefield CEN police station in which the same suspects allegedly defrauded another e-commerce platform out of Rs 56 lakh. While the suspects had evaded arrest then, the cybercrime police have reopened the case now.
You May Like
Photos
