Dealing with cheat/thief claiming to be a dealer from Bangalore

[vishsp]

Dear Fellow Audiophiles

I would like to share with you a very horrible experience that I have been going through since the 13th of July. Im from Mumbai and was interested in purchasing an Oppo 205 BR player since some time and once I heard production will cease I sped up my search to buy one from any source in India. After calls to local dealers and getting an “out of stock” response I came across Mr A’s ad on OLX for sale of a brand new Oppo 205. I got in touch with him right away and spoke on the phone and finalized the price. At that time he said delivery would take a max of 10 days from his location in Bangalore to his friend’s aprt in Mumbai and I would have to pay 50% advance (bank transfer to A) and balance 50% to his friend once I collected the player. Till that point everything seemed fine and good.
Then after a few days I received a phone call from him requesting me to send another 25K claiming that someone was in the hospital and he needed money desperately. (Later on he changed this story to claiming that he needed funds bcuz of the flood damage in Kerala). I sent the money right away not suspecting any foul play at the time (we had a talk on the phone regarding UPS’s so he seemed genuine at the time). This was about a week after I made the advance payment.
In the meanwhile I had been asking him again and again about the status of the delivery and I was given the below reasons for the delay

• Octroi issues
• Courier delays
• More delays with vague reasoning
• Shipment was stopped and he had to goto some location to pass it
• Shipment had arrived in his friend’s house where I was supposed to pick it up but his friend refused to respond and apparently kept it for himself and now has disappeared from the picture
• He claims he has found another dealer in Bbay who can deliver to me but who cannot communicate in Hindi or English and will get in touch with me and deliver once he will be paid in full or if Mr A sent him a replacement player

Everything might seem confusing for the layman but this is how his method of cheating is. All his answers are vague and never to the point. Mind you after a month I asked him nicely to refund all my money and once he would deliver I would pay him in full but so far he has been giving more excuses for this too

• He has no money due to flooding in kerala
• He is waiting for salary to come
• He is waiting for money to clear in his account which was transferred by someone abroad
• He is waiting for money to come in from other sources

As of now it has been over 100 days and not one word out of his mouth has come true. He refuses to return the money and refuses to deliver the product always giving nonsense vague reasons which by now are clearly lies. The reason for me to write this post was to warn any and every one about this crook and thief and liar who has cheated me off my hard earned money. Due to my mistakes I have no details of this cheat except his Bank A/C No, his phone contact and his WhatsApp profile picture and I will share the same with you all once I have the go ahead from the moderators todo so. This way everyone knows exactly who I am talking about. I have my Whatspp history and SMS convs to prove that im right in case anyone has any doubts and so everyone can view this crooks MO. Before posting this I had warned him twice that this would happen but being a crook a thief and a liar he has not bothered about it. I don’t expect to have my money refunded as I don’t know how to pursue this further and any suggestions from anyone on this forum are welcome. Hoping this post helps someone to be more careful in the future and not to make the same mistakes as I have made. Before posting this I had called him but no response.

Thanking you for listening

Vishal

Below are the whatsapp and SMS exchanges between me and him

 

[TD150]

Suggestion - you can send him a legal notice through your lawyer on his act of cheating, criminal breach of trust, etc which are cognisable offences. If he doesn't respond and return your money, you can file a written police complainant at your nearest police station giving out the facts and enclosing the legal notice send. You may also mark a copy to the commissioner of police of your area.

They should take cognizance of the offence committed and register an FIR. If not done in 15 days then you may approach the JMFC or CMM court for necessary orders to direct the police to file FIR and then investigation.

The accused will be summoned by police through notice and if doesn't appear would be arrested.

Hope this will ensure the cheat is punished.

 

[Sushant Sharma]

Hi vishal
Try finding his Facebook profile or his place of work etc and try shaming him there. I got my money from somebody for a credit bill that he kept delaying once I posted on his Facebook and got somebody from the same city and a competitor business organisation than his to call and discuss matters. Too late to say now but you need to have been more careful with an OLX dealing. Good luck however in getting your money back.
Also I agree with TD150's comment above about sending a legal notice and filing a complaint with the police. I hop that takes care of the matter but If nothing else it can be a great pressure tactic to convey to the guy not returning your money.

 

[vishsp]

Suggestion - you can send him a legal notice through your lawyer on his act of cheating, criminal breach of trust, etc which are cognisable offences. If he doesn't respond and return your money, you can file a written police complainant at your nearest police station giving out the facts and enclosing the legal notice send. You may also mark a copy to the commissioner of police of your area.

They should take cognizance of the offence committed and register an FIR. If not done in 15 days then you may approach the JMFC or CMM court for necessary orders to direct the police to file FIR and then investigation.

The accused will be summoned by police through notice and if doesn't appear would be arrested.

Hope this will ensure the cheat is punished.

I did think of that and thank you for it too but i made the mistake of not asking him for his postal address so there is no way i can send anything to him.

Hi vishal
Try finding his Facebook profile or his place of work etc and try shaming him there. I got my money from somebody for a credit bill that he kept delaying once I posted on his Facebook and got somebody from the same city and a competitor business organisation than his to call and discuss matters. Too late to say now but you need to have been more careful with an OLX dealing. Good luck however in getting your money back.
Also I agree with TD150's comment above about sending a legal notice and filing a complaint with the police. I hop that takes care of the matter but If nothing else it can be a great pressure tactic to convey to the guy not returning your money.

Thank you sushant
Il do as you suggested and see what happens. Cant believe the kind people out there in our community doing all these sort of things

 

[Sushant Sharma]

I did think of that and thank you for it too but i made the mistake of not asking him for his postal address so there is no way i can send anything to him.

Don't forget you have his phone number and his bank details and you could still pursue this with some help from police or the bank with whom he banks.If he has not slipped and given you correct info. Even if it is somebody else's bank account number they are still his accomplice and action could be taken. Just saying, you see what is the best course of action that suits but keep trying.

 

[vishsp]

Don't forget you have his phone number and his bank details and you could still pursue this with some help from police or the bank with whom he banks.If he has not slipped and given you correct info. Even if it is somebody else's bank account number they are still his accomplice and action could be taken. Just saying, you see what is the best course of action that suits but keep trying.

Yes il see what i can manage. Thanks again

 

[rsjaurr]

Can you share his mobile number coz I'm also in touch with someone who first said he was from Kerala but later said he is traveling to Bangalore. I too came in contact with him via olx.

He told me that right now he has a four month used 205 for 85k and new one can be arranged from Dubai within ten days against advance payment of 25k.
I asked him about his addeand he told me that he's from Kochi. On little bit more questioning he told me that he's from Haripad which is near Allepay.

I told him that I have friend living there and you can show him the item and get money from him. That's when he started using other tactics like he said how he Wil deal with a stranger. Man he just got in touch with someone a day earlier from Punjab was not a stranger but a local living barely 20km was a stranger. When I said I can't trust him with that much money he said he will think about it. It was yesterday and he hasn't replied yet.

 

[vishsp]

Can you share his mobile number coz I'm also in touch with someone who first said he was from Kerala but later said he is traveling to Bangalore. I too came in contact with him via olx.

He told me that right now he has a four month used 205 for 85k and new one can be arranged from Dubai within ten days against advance payment of 25k.
I asked him about his addeand he told me that he's from Kochi. On little bit more questioning he told me that he's from Haripad which is near Allepay.

I told him that I have friend living there and you can show him the item and get money from him. That's when he started using other tactics like he said how he Wil deal with a stranger. Man he just got in touch with someone a day earlier from Punjab was not a stranger but a local living barely 20km was a stranger. When I said I can't trust him with that much money he said he will think about it. It was yesterday and he hasn't replied yet.

His last 5 digits of the 3 numbers i have are 79812 or 01538 or 17398. Posting just last 5 digits as im not sure if the forum rules allow posting of full numbers. It might be the same fellow as he had a few 205’s in stock or maybe he was just taking advantage of the fact that its not available anymore so try to cheat ppl like us.

 

[hifitoaster]

His last 5 digits of the 3 numbers i have are 79812 or 01538 or 17398. Posting just last 5 digits as im not sure if the forum rules allow posting of full numbers. It might be the same fellow as he had a few 205’s in stock or maybe he was just taking advantage of the fact that its not available anymore so try to cheat ppl like us.

Even if the number is different if the ads are similar, or offers are similar, you both can together file a complaint. 25k is not a small amount, for a used item. The guy has to go down.

 

[vishsp]

Even if the number is different if the ads are similar, or offers are similar, you both can together file a complaint. 25k is not a small amount, for a used item. The guy has to go down.

Yeah i agree. We are putting our heads together and seeing wht todo. Thank you for your support. He defi needs to go out of circulation from this community.

 

[RaahulT]

His last 5 digits of the 3 numbers i have are 79812 or 01538 or 17398. Posting just last 5 digits as im not sure if the forum rules allow posting of full numbers. It might be the same fellow as he had a few 205’s in stock or maybe he was just taking advantage of the fact that its not available anymore so try to cheat ppl like us.

Hello. I have come to know from my own experience that there are many such cheats active across online platforms. I have recently in Sept18 been cheated for Rs. 28k on by a vendor(?) on india mart dot com regarding purchase of HT. I have their 3 mobile nos, 1 bank account no and a PAN no. I have lodged a police complaint but I know it may no be fruitful in getting back my money. So please beware if anybody contacts you from XX19822709, XX48268852, XX67144282. I desperately want to share full nos. of the cheats if it's ok to share on the forum.

 

[vij]

Guys... Olx and indiamart are full of scammers. A basic request like asking to meet to have a 5 min demo will expose their intentions. Someone tried to scam me on olx 2 years back with an offer on Bitcoin miners.

 

[vishsp]

Guys... Olx and indiamart are full of scammers. A basic request like asking to meet to have a 5 min demo will expose their intentions. Someone tried to scam me on olx 2 years back with an offer on Bitcoin miners.

You are right but this was in different cities. Will be more careful whn dealing with ppl on olx henceforth. Thanks man

 

[vij]

You are right but this was in different cities. Will be more careful whn dealing with ppl on olx henceforth. Thanks man

Doesn't matter if you are not in the same city... Most scammers will back off from their mark if u tell them ur cousin or uncle lives there or that you happen to be making a trip. But even so, better not to do inter city deals imo.

Anyways.. I understand your plight. It's better to get closure and move on because if u drag this episode the mental stress of the scam can be difficult. So do ur best and then forget this. It's just 25k and you learnt a valuable life lesson. No real harm done.

 

[vishsp]

Doesn't matter if you are not in the same city... Most scammers will back off from their mark if u tell them ur cousin or uncle lives there or that you happen to be making a trip. But even so, better not to do inter city deals imo.

Anyways.. I understand your plight. Sometimes it's better to get closure and move on because if u drag this episode the mental stress of the scam can be difficult. So do ur best and then forget this. It's just 25k and you learnt a valuable life lesson. No real harm done.

Its much more than 25k due to the advance paid before the 25k. But yes i agree that ive learned a literal valuable lesson. This post is only to inform others and warn them and find anyone else who has been cheated like me. If the crook refunds or delivers(unlikely now) due to this it would be a great though.

 

[drkrack]

You are right but this was in different cities. Will be more careful whn dealing with ppl on olx henceforth. Thanks man

Just make a complaint about this with cyber crime department in your area or a regular police station ; with bank details it becomes easier to nab someone. Don't let 25k go just like that. It's a big amount and lack of action from your end will encourage him to do such things in future.

Its your responsibility as a citizen to report it , tomorrow if he is involved in some serious illicit activities like drugs, terrorism etc Each and every transaction in his account will be scrutinized. Your inaction will be considered as you funding him. You may not get your money back but do what is expected of you in such scenarios.

 

[tuff]

Is this the same guy?
https://www.olx.in/item/oppo-udp-205-4k-ultra-dvd-ID1ohyuw.html#5a6298e25a

 

[vishsp]

Just make a complaint about this with cyber crime department in your area or a regular police station ; with bank details it becomes easier to nab someone. Don't let 25k go just like that. It's a big amount and lack of action from your end will encourage him to do such things in future.

Its your responsibility as a citizen to report it , tomorrow if he is involved in some serious illicit activities like drugs, terrorism etc Each and every transaction in his account will be scrutinized. Your inaction will be considered as you funding him. You may not get your money back but do what is expected of you in such scenarios.

Yes i am figuring out what todo about this. Have never dealt with anything like this nor with the police so need to think about it as i have no idea what to expect.

Regardless thank you for your support and suggestions.

 

[vishsp]

Is this the same guy?
https://www.olx.in/item/oppo-udp-205-4k-ultra-dvd-ID1ohyuw.html#5a6298e25a

It could be very well the same fellow. I dint take a screenshot of his ad at the time cuz it was three months ago and i wasnt smart about it back then. But cant be two of them from the south. Just be careful in dealing with him is wht id say.

 

[sunand777]

https://www.olx.in/item/oppo-103d-bd-player-ID1fcR3X.html

There is another ad from bangalore in the name of Arun.