Bengaluru police and Amazon employees have discovered a major scam involving fake returns of expensive devices like iPhones purchased from the Amazon India website. As part of the investigation, one person was arrested in North Bengaluru, Indian Express reports. The scam was first brought to the attention of Amazon Transportation Services Private Limited by officials who noticed significant losses due to refunds for expensive equipment that appeared to have been returned by customers.
The report revealed that Amazon conducted an investigation and discovered that a customer named Chirag Gupta purchased four Apple iPhones between May 15 and May 17 using a credit card and UPI. The investigation revealed that four devices were sent to Gupta's address in North Bengaluru but were later marked as returned and refunded through the online customer app, even though they were never returned. back to Amazon Transportation Services. According to a police complaint filed by the Amazon Transportation Services area manager, Gupta's actions raised suspicion. When a company representative visited Gupta's home, he was told that the iPhones were still in good working order and that Gupta had entered into the transactions at the request of a friend from Madhya Pradesh. This friend claims to have found a way to get refunds from Amazon while keeping the purchased devices.
The whole scam was staged by a former Amazon employee. As part of an ongoing investigation, law enforcement officials seized Rs 20.34 lakh worth of devices, including iPhones and Macbooks, and frozen Rs 30 lakh in some accounts. bank accounts related to the suspect. Deputy Commissioner of Police Shivaprakash Devaraju explained that the fraud was discovered when the company noticed a tendency to buy from the same address, but the products were not returned even after the order was canceled.
Other information provided in the police complaint revealed that Gupta was instructed by a friend from Madhya Pradesh to buy a mobile phone and cancel the order after delivery. The promised friend manipulates the system to send the item back and thus initiate a refund.
Chirag Gupta was later arrested by Bangalore North Police based on information gathered by Amazon officials and presented in a police complaint in May. The investigation also resulted in the seizure of iPhones that Gupta had purchased before they falsely reported the return. Phones and other equipment were obtained from an associate of Gupta.
During the investigation, it was discovered that Gupta had been paid a commission for buying expensive devices on Amazon. The main suspect, who contacted Gupta via Telegram, sold the obtained fraudulent devices to profit from the cryptocurrency. Gupta receives a percentage of profits in the form of a commission.
The mastermind behind the scam, identified as a former employee, had access to the company's website and was able to manipulate product return data. Although a return request was initiated, payments for the product were not processed and the items were never returned.
Bengaluru Police said in an official statement on Friday: "Based on the investigations of the detainee and data from Amazon, the devices are worth Rs 20.34 lakh, including 16 iPhones, two Macbooks, a pair of AirPods, a Vivo phone, a desktop computer, a gaming laptop, and Rs 2.5 lakh cash were seized." In addition, Rs 30 lakh in several bank accounts linked to the defendant were frozen.
