I paid the price, so this incident MUST be an eye-opener for all the consumers.
I’ve made an enquiry on IndiaMART regarding a PC Graphics Card on September 3, 2022. On next day, around 7.15 PM, I’ve received a WhatsApp message. The person on the other end called me by name and stated my query on IndiaMART in relation with buying a Graphics Card. (Attaching WhatsApp screenshot). This person told me he has this particular Graphics Card that costs around Rs 15000/-. I did not doubt this person because he called me by my name, and even iterated my query on IndiaMART. He asked me to share the address for sending the product, and I did. One more thing, I have never made a purchase through IndiaMART before, so I had no idea how the payment should be made. This scammer shared a bank account detail (belongs to someone in Nagaland), and I transferred the money, followed by sharing the screenshot of the payment. The moment he saw the proof of transfer, he said "please you didn’t pay the delivery charge and the insurance fee which is Rs 4000/-". My heart started pounding, stood still for a moment, couldn’t believe I have fallen for this.
You know what’s worst, he told me he is a Muslim, and he swore Muslims never cheat others (Attaching WhatsApp screenshot). This is where his real game started, manipulating me to fall into his second trap. So, I transferred Rs 4000 and begged him, "I don’t mind if you take this 4000 also, but kindly send me the Graphics Card".
Dear readers, this cold-hearted creature swore many times, saying why would he cheat me, trust me blah blah... He said he will send the order the next day morning, I’ve waited till 12 PM, then my intuition told me "Bobby, you’re not going to get anything. You just handed over your hard-earned money to some scammer freely".
I have the following doubts:
1) This person called me by my name, so from where did he get my name and my mobile phone number?
2) This person understood my requirement and he introduced himself to be from IndiaMart. This is impersonation. How does this person know I have made an enquiry on IndiaMart?
3) He asked me "How many units would you love(suspicion) to buy"? The way this person asked me except the word "love", "How many units" implies this person is either a real seller or an imposter/disguised or a scammer who has terms with a seller of IndiaMart platform?
4) He typed "$15000", instead of Rupees, I’ve failed to notice that part.
5) I assume these sellers in IndiaMART are exchanging our name, contact number, email address and query with these scammers and the sellers never get caught and these sellers and scammers might be sharing the scammed money, who knows!
Solution for all my readers if anyone of you gets scammed not only like this, but by means of any kind of online fraud, follow these steps:
1) Report a fraud by visiting the National Cyber Crime’s website at cybercrime.gov.in or call the Helpline Number on 1930 to report the unauthorised transaction or any fraud.
2) Contact your home branch (Bank) either by phone call or customer care email (recommends email communication can be used as a proof of communication for legality) because you might be getting scammed on non-banking hours, at night, just like in my case.
3) Contact the scammers (culprit’s) bank only if you know their bank. In my case, I knew their bank.
I believe I’ve created an awareness and kindly stay away from online matchmaking platforms like IndiaMART, TradeIndia etc. These people steal your personal details.
Share this with your friends, families, and acquaintances.