BENGALURU: Are you looking for a good bargain to buy a car? Beware! Fraudsters are making the best use of well known online and mobile classifieds portals to dupe gullible buyers. The fraudsters post ads offering cars at low prices stating that they were going abroad. When buyers respond, they ask them to make an advance payment (running into lakhs) to see the vehicles and claim they are with the customs officers. After receiving money, they vanish.

Recently, a 35-year-old city-based techie and car enthusiast, Shiraj Ali, almost fell into a trap laid by a fraudster. Ali told DC, “I am a car enthusiast and love to browse through online classifieds portals for used cars and know their market value. While browsing through a portal recently, an ad offering used Mahindra XUV500 (2012) model for Rs 6 lakh caught my attention. As the market value of the vehicle was around Rs 11 lakh, the price quoted in the ad excited me, and I immediately dialled the contact number.” As soon as Ali called the number, the person on the other side seemed to be using a device to change his voice.

“The voice sounded more of a Nigerian, while the guy was pretending to be an Indian doctor going to Singapore (as per the ad). I grew suspicious and asked him about the vehicle. When I expressed my wish to see it, he said that the vehicle is in Bengaluru airport with the Customs Department and his friend, who is an officer there, will show it to me,” Ali said.
He was surprised when the man demanded an advance payment of Rs 2 lakh to be given to the Customs officer.

Sensing something amiss, Ali asked about the transaction process. “The man told me that I have to give Rs 2 lakh to the Customs officer and after two days I could see the vehicle,” Ali said. “Suspecting it could be a fraud, I reported the matter to the city police,” he added.

“While checking the online classifieds portals for used cars a few days ago, I saw a couple of similar ads. When I contacted them, I heard the same voice. This time, the person changed his name to Collins. He gave me the same details he had given me earlier regarding the vehicle and the payment method to be followed.” When Deccan Chronicle brought the matter to the notice of city police commissioner M.N. Reddi, he said that he had taken note of it and would initiate an inquiry.