Gurugram police busts racket running fake e-commerce websites; two held

Police arrested two suspects from DLF Phase-II for allegedly running fake e-commerce websites and duping people from across the country by offering them branded items at huge discounts. Cops raided a two-story residential house in DLF Phase-II on the night of October 10 and apprehended the suspects. They were operating from the house for over a year.

Investigators said a woman from a condominium in Sector-25 filed a complaint with the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on January 20 this year. She alleged to have paid ₹20,499 to buy a branded LED TV from the fake website which was available for a discount of 80%.

“MHA forwarded this complaint to Gurugram police and an investigation was launched,” an officer said. According to police, the racket leader Bharat Sharma (35) paid ₹50,000 as monthly rent to the owner for the entire house. Priyanshu Dewan, assistant commissioner of police (cybercrime), said Sharma and one of his staff Bheem Singh (35) were arrested during the raid.

“Cops seized 10 laptops, 152 pairs of fake branded earbuds, seven pairs of fake branded sunglasses, two mobile phones, and 15 chequebooks from the spot,” he said. Sharma lives on Gurudwara Road in the city while Singh is from Nepal.

Police said Sharma was taken on one-day police remand and was forwarded to judicial custody after being produced in a city court on Wednesday. An FIR against the suspects was registered at Cybercrime police station (east) under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code on Tuesday. Police said that most of the duped money was deposited in the bank account of Sharma’s driver. “He is on the run at present. There were around 15 people who were paid commissions by Sharma, depending on the duped amount. We are trying to arrest them too,” another senior officer said.

“At times they delivered low-price items but they were widely available knock-offs. But if a consumer paid a hefty amount for a TV, laptop, or any other expensive item, the suspects duped them,” an officer privy to the case said. He added that the suspects even issued refunds if the amount was low to gain the trust of consumers.

The racket purchased new domains if one of their domains got blocked in case of several negative reviews and complaints. “They even purchased a payment gateway for accepting money and getting it transferred to the desired bank account,” an investigator said. According to him, the two websites were developed by experts and used the snapshot of an established logistic firm to give the impression that the website was authentic. “The websites even offered the option to track consignments. The logos and appearance were copied from other e-commerce sites with minor changes,” he added.

According to investigators, they advertised heavy discounts on electronic items, watches, apparel and other items on Facebook pages with their website link. Police said that during the raid, several printouts of complaints from victims across different cities in the country were seized. “We were trying to contact some of these complainants. Attempts will be made to get local victims to appear before the police for recording statements. Others will be contacted via email,” he said.

Police said Sharma got into a scuffle with police officials during the raid in an attempt to stop them from entering the house.“A separate FIR was registered against him at DLF Phase-II police station for attacking the police team,” an official said. Sharma is also booked in a case under the Negotiable Instruments Act and was declared a proclaimed offender by a city court in the case, he added.