Whenever there is the element of “online” in a transaction, there is always a high risk of fraud. Even when you are dealing with a top notch online entity, the risks of fraud may be minimized but never eliminated.
Some people had to learn this lesson the hard way when they were defrauded on OLX, a very popular “Customer to Customer” e-commerce website in Pakistan.
OLX, as we all know, is a free online classifieds platform and can be defined as a huge internet brand. OLX has over 11 billion monthly page views generated by over 240 million users spread over 40 countries.
OLX is quite popular in Pakistan too and can be seen running large marketing campaigns specific to Pakistan every now and then. OLX has however, also grabbed the attention of some crooks who have successfully defrauded people by making irresistible offers on the website.
Unfortunately, these people are difficult to identify and rope in. However, the good news is that it seems that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is keenly looking into the matter and has, in collaboration with the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), recently caught such a gang of fraudsters.
The Fraud
The fraud itself was not very complicated. The gang, said to have five members, first placed ads to sell cars on OLX. The prices of the cars in the ads were kept low on purpose so as to attract buyers.
Once they had a buyer on the hook, the gang members took these people to car showrooms in the city and showed them a car there. Once the deal was finalized they received an advance of 10% to 20 % (or “token money” as it is called in local lingo) with the promised intention of delivering the car later. Instead, the gang then vanished without a trace with the unsuspecting buyer’s money.
Out of the five gang members three have been identified as Azam Rahman Butt, Irfan Bashir and Muneer Khan. According to the details provided, the gang members were originally from Punjab and were working in Karachi for the last 12 months. Unfortunately, these people have been able to con quite a few people.
From the initial investigation it seems that the car showroom owners were not aware of this con job taking place. The staff simply thought that the gang members and the buyers were prospective customers and were bewildered when the buyers came back for a refund claiming that the showroom had taken advance money from them.
Law enforcers jump into action
A complaint regarding the incident was first registered by a victim with the CPLC. The complaint was promptly forwarded to the FIA. The culprits were identified and apprehended by the FIA with the help of a CCTV recording from a bank and a bank account used by the gang.
The culprits were caught in three separate acts from three separate areas of the city. Two of them were caught in Korangi, two in Surjani and one in Liaquatabad.
In today’s world one cannot be too careful, especially when making a transaction via online portals where the other party is not known.
Our advice is very simple: please take extra precaution to verify who you are dealing with and be extra cautious when handing over money!
