Mumbai: A Marathi actor, Atul Parchure, was recently duped of Rs 20,000 after he transferred the amount to a PAYTM account for a shoulder bag which he had seen on sale, online. Parchure was first lured by a 55 per cent sale and he fell for the bait and placed an order for the bag.
He opted for cash on delivery payment. That is when the accused tempted him with another eight per cent discount. Parchure fell for this con and ended up paying the amount online. He realised it is a fraud and lodged a police complaint. Dadar police have booked unknown persons for cheating.
According to police, on March 11, when Parchure was surfing through Facebook, he came across a social media page, where he saw a branded shoulder bag worth Rs 42,615 on sale and being sold for Rs 20,000. Police said, Parchure thought it was a good deal, with a discount of over Rs 22,000 and placed an order.
After the actor proceeded to pay, he opted for cash on delivery payment mode and placed the order. The following day, on March 12, Parchure received a call from an unknown woman, claiming to be working from the shopping website.
The woman said if Parchure paid the money through an online transaction instead of paying in cash for the shoulder bag, he would be eligible for an extra eight per cent discount, which would eventually cost him only Rs 17,233. Excited upon getting a further discount, Parchure immediately transferred Rs 17,233 to the bank account number given by the woman through PayTM payment gateway.
With the receipt of payment, Parchure was sent an e-mail and estimated date of delivery of the bag. However, after many days, when the bag was not delivered, Parchure first tried calling the lady, to get an update on the delivery status.
When he persisted, he was informed, they couldn’t deliver the bag, due to closure of the financial year. He made many attempts to contact the company through repeated e-mails and calls, which was all in vain. Realising he was cheated, Parchure approached Dadar police and registered a case of cheating against the unidentified woman.
Police have booked the woman under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology act for cheating. “We are seeking help from the cyber cell of Dadar police station to track the Internet Protocol (IP) address and make the arrest.
We have recorded the complainant’s statement and are investigating the matter,” said Diwakar Shelke, a senior police inspector of Dadar police station. When The Free Press Journal made repeated attempts to reach Atul Parchure, he was unavailable for a comment.
