Indore: This is a case where the reel ends… the real starts. Crime branch on Thursday arrested a person for duping e-commerce companies by buying new mobile phones online and returning the fake phones to the seller. The accused used to initiate a return request saying that he had received a fake phone. After that, he used to return fake mobile phones in the packing of the original mobile phone. The accused is being questioned about the case further.
IG Harinarayanachari Mishra said a complaint was received that a person is duping e-commerce companies by buying original mobile phones and returning fake phones to them. The crime branch officials were instructed to investigate the matter and to arrest the accused.
During the investigation, the crime branch officials came to know that one Wasim Akram, a resident of Sangod in Kota district (Rajasthan) is indulged in the crime. After collecting information about the accused, the crime branch team managed to arrest him from Rajasthan.
MODUS OPERANDI
Wasim used to buy mobile phones from Amazon and Flipkart and used to make an online payment. After receiving delivery, the accused used to initiate a return request after keeping a fake mobile phone in the package. He used to mention that the seller had sent a fake phone to him.
FP View
In 2018, Netflix had a series wherein Inspector Khan was a witty, smart, and well-experienced crime hunter, who specialized in solving scams involving people who have chosen the criminal life as a solution to their problems. In a particular episode, it was shown that in the slums of Mumbai, a racket of buying laptops online and changing the mother board in a jiffy became a thriving cottage industry. And after accomplishing the mission, they used to sending back the “defective” gadget. This real life mobile phone story seems inspired from the web series. It is laudable that cops are up-to-date have managed to nab the culprit. However, it must be noted that the arrested accused may be a small cog in the bigger scheme of things.
Accused put IMEI of new mobile in fake phone
According to the police, the accused used to put the IMEI of the new mobile phone in the fake phone before returning it so that after delivery, the courier person would collect the phone.
WHAT IS IMEI?
IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) is a unique number for identifying a device on a mobile network. You can think of it as your phone’s social security number. It has 15 digits and is assigned to every GSM phone — CDMA devices have a MEID number.
The IMEI number comes in handy when your handset gets lost or stolen. No, it won’t magically bring the phone back to you, but you can make sure whoever found or stole it won’t be able to use it. Your carrier can blacklist a device based on its IMEI number and can contact other carriers to do the same. This means the phone won’t be able to make/receive calls anymore or connect online via the cellular network, even with a new SIM card.
AFTER THAT?
He would then sell the mobile phones in the market. Thus, he earned double profit by duping the companies. On the complaint from a seller, the accused was booked under the relevant section of the IPC and IT Act. So far, his two mobile phones, three china-made phones and three first copy phones were recovered from the accused and he is being questioned further. A four-wheeler vehicle was also seized from the accused.
