Beware of OLX frauds, most falling prey to vehicle Ads :Cops

Vijayawada: Taking advantage of the lockdown imposed due to Covid-19, cyber fraudsters have been duping the gullible with the help of second-hand product selling app OLX and social media platforms in Vizag and Vijayawada cities.

Recently, a 26-year-old-youngster in Vizag lost Rs 70,000 as he was duped by cyber fraudsters on the pretext of selling Royal Enfield 350 CC bullet bike at a cheaper price, through online mobile application OLX.

The youngster came across the advertisement (sale of a bullet at Rs 90,000) posted by one person on OLX in July, 2020. He contacted the seller, who introduced himself as a native of Vizag city and an Army person.

The deal was settled for Rs 70,000 and the youngster transferred the money to the seller through e-wallet and the seller promised to send the bike in two days. However, the buyer (youngster) realised that he was cheated as the seller stopped answering his phone calls after receiving the money. The youngster approached the Cybercrimes Police Station (CPS) in Vizag and lodged a complaint.

Inspector of CPS, Vizag, R.V.R.K. Choudhary said that several fraudsters were luring the victims by selling and purchasing used cars, bikes, smart phones, furniture, ACs through OLX. “We have been receiving at least six complaints in a week and over 100 complaints were received relating to cheating through OLX,” he added.

In another incident, a middle-aged person who had put his car for sale on OLX lost over Rs 1.5 lakh. Instead of sending a QR code to the buyer, he received a QR code from the unidentified buyer and told to scan it and send him bank account details, the police added.

In Vizianagaram town also, three frauds relating to OLX have been reported. Superintendent of Police, Vizianagaram, B. Raja Kumari said that some tech-savvy fraudsters, posing as employees with the defence services, wanted to sell their bikes, furniture and others. They are posting the fake images of the bikes furniture on OLX and asking the gullible to pay 50 per cent of the cash of the deal immediately to claim the goods and cheating the people, she said.

Apart from the OLX related frauds, Vizag and Vijayawada cities witnessed over 20 e-wallet related frauds during lockdown. Citing excuses linked to Covid-19 lockdown, the fraudsters claim that they are calling from the banks and digital payment wallets to update your KYC for uninterrupted digital payments and are cheating the people.

The police appealed to the people never to download any app like Anydesk, Quicksupport and few others for KYC completion. Such apps give remote access to your devices, which allows fraudsters to know your PIN, OTP and bank account details for committing the fraud, they added.

Most victims who fall for such traps are educated people and also employees with some firms. People should be careful when fraudsters say that they will deliver the vehicle or gadgets to their home after receiving the money.