One of the main reasons why online shopping is a favorite is because of offers, deals, discounts, and cashbacks. When compared to offline shopping, you can actually save a lot of money through online shopping. But, you have to be really careful before trusting these offers as there are chances of you getting cheated. Fraudsters cheat online shoppers in the name of lucky draws and smart deals. In this blog, we will discuss how people lose their money to fake lucky draws with an example.
See Also: How People Lose Money to Online Frauds?
A person from South Delhi had bought a phone worth Rs 37,000 during the Republic Day sale. Ten days after purchasing the phone, he received a call from someone who introduced himself as an executive of an online shopping portal from where he has purchased the phone. The caller informed the shopper that based on a previous purchase; he has won the smart TV. To receive the TV, he was asked to pay Rs 5,500 as GST.
Believing this to be true, the victim transferred Rs 5,500 to the bank account. After the money was transferred there was no notification on the delivery of the product. When he called the customer care of the company, he got to know that he was cheated.
In a similar case, a lady was cheated of Rs 3,500. She received a call from someone who introduced himself as an executive of the online shopping portal from where she had done shopping worth Rs 7,000. She was told that she had won a smartphone worth Rs 15,000. To receive the phone she was asked to deposit Rs 3,500. The caller informed her that the offer would lapse if she did not accept it. Believing this to be true she made a payment.
What is worrying in these cases is fraudsters have access to all the shopping details of online shoppers which include shopping history, email ID and delivery address.
Customer data of big e-commerce companies are compromised by fraudsters and it is misused to cheat people in the name of lucky draw and discounts. This came to light after a fake call center in Greater Noida was busted by the Uttar Pradesh Police. The gang had data on more than one lakh customers from various online shopping portals.
Fraudsters used these leaked data to cheat customers in the name of providing gadgets at cheap prices or offering prizes in lucky draws.
1. Never make payment if someone calls stating you are the winner of a lucky draw. Never share your sensitive information with anyone over call.
2. Before using any website, you must check the domain name. The URL must have 'https' [not just 'http'] and a lock icon.
See Also: Beware of free cruise ticket in a lucky draw
Not happy with a product or service? Just visit IndianMoney.com’s complaint portal IamCheated.com and post your issue. We’ll get in touch with the concerned entity and help you with the resolution. With an aim to spread awareness on fraudulent activities, we publish articles and videos on a regular basis. You can also publish reviews about companies on IamCheated.com.
