Thanks to the lack of a proper verification process, online search engines and e-commerce merchant websites continue to be valuable assets for fraudsters to source out business details and contact information in context to their potential targets.
The Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police are on the lookout for two crooks who duped a Vasai-based businessman engaged in the business of renting out cameras. In his complaint to the police, the 28-year-old businessman stated that he had placed an advertisement on a popular search engine offering a range of high definition Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras on a rental basis.
Recently, he got a call from a person who identified himself as Yogesh and was in need of a camera-on-rent for three days. The complainant agreed to the rental deal on the condition that gadget should be returned in proper condition.
Three days after being handed over the DSLR camera and lens worth more than Rs. 3.15 lakh to Yogesh and an auto-rickshaw driver, the accused asked for a day’s extension.
Thereafter, the accused became unreachable. The complainant realized he had been tricked and registered a complaint at the Manekpur police station in Vasai.
An offence under sections 406 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered as further investigations were underway.
