The OLX UPI con

Sun, 02 Oct 2022 16:42:15 +0000

Before moving to Singapore, we listed our furniture and white goods for sale on OLX.

Caller 1: Vinod buys a bed

On 18th April, I got a call from +91 70868 17420. He said he was Vinod, and owned a furniture shop in Ahmedabad. He wanted to buy our bed for Rs 6,000.

It was not too bad an offer, so we agreed.

Vinod: “I will pay by phone, sir. Give me your WhatsApp number.”

Me: (Wow! He’s using WhatsApp Pay? That’s a first.) “Sure. It’s 9741 552 552.”

Vinod: “I’ve sent a picture, sir. Please scan that.”

Me: “Uh… OK. I got this QR code on WhatsApp. I scanned it on PayTM. But it’s asking me to transfer to 9713902265.imb@icici. Is that right?”

Vinod: “Yes sir. Please type 6,000 and send. You will get the amount.”

He sounded so confident, I thought I had it wrong.

Me: “But this will pay you Rs 6,000. How will I get Rs 6,000?”

Vinod: “Sir, it is a business account. I sent you Rs 6,000. But you will get it only if you enter 6,000.”

Me: “Vinod, I don’t think payments work that way…”

Vinod: “Sir, I will show you. I will pay you 1 rupee. You type 1 and send. You will get back 2 rupees.”

I didn’t mind losing a rupee, so I paid his account 1 rupee.

Vinod: “Sir, now please check your account. You will have 2 rupees.”

And I did have 2 UPI credits of 1 rupee each from his account.

Date	Transaction Remarks	Withdrawal	Deposit
18-Apr-2022	UPI/210885173447/NA/BHARATPE0990555/Yes Bank Ltd/PTMF7DD556B1DFF42538B3F24D52AFD0A0F/	1.00
18-Apr-2022	UPI/210868024141/UPI Payment/9713902265.imb@/Axis Bank Ltd./ICId74ef953e7bd4588bbcf226880cd4864		1.00
18-Apr-2022	UPI/210868024950/UPI Payment/9713902265.imb@/Axis Bank Ltd./ICIb8cafc942184402dafda89620319a9e9		1.00

Me: “Sure, Vinod. You paid me 2 rupees. But when I pay you Rs 6,000, there’s no guarantee you’ll pay me Rs 12,000. Why don’t you come in person, collect the sofa, and pay me then?”

Vinod: “What sort of man are you? I already sent you money from my account. I cannot get it back now. I will have a loss. You tell me – how will you give me back my money?”

Me: (Um… He really does sound convincing.) “Vinod, I’m really not comfortable with this. Let’s not go ahead.”

Vinod: “You’re an asshole. Get off the line!”

Caller #2: Gaurav buys a recliner

On 15th May, I got a call from Gaurav at +91 84865 47620.

Gaurav: “Sir, you have a sofa set on OLX for Rs 60,000. Can you give it for a lower amount?”

Me: “Well, I’m OK with Rs 55,000, but not less.”

Gaurav: “OK sir. I will pay by UPI. Can I make a 50% advance payment, then you can take off the listing from OLX?”

Me: “OK, sure.”

Gaurav: “What is your UPI account?”

Me: “9741552552@upi.”

Gaurav: “I have paid Rs 27,500. I have sent you a picture. Can you scan it and enter 27,500?”

Me: “I got an image that requests a payment to bharatpe09905995207@yesbank.ltd. But that’s for ME to transfer to YOU. I have not received your payment.”

Gaurav: “I have already paid the advance sir. If you type 27,500 and send, you will get it.”

Me: “Sorry, Gaurav, I’m not going to do that. Bye.” (click)

By now, I was a bit wiser.

Caller #3: Priti buys a recliner

On 15th May, I got a call from yet another person. I forget his name. It might have been Priti.

He: “Sir, I want to buy your recliner. How much is it for?”

Me: “How will you pay and how much, please?”

He: “Sir, I will pay on UPI. I can pay up to 55,000, sir. I will transfer the money and send you the confirmation code, sir”

I let out a huge laugh, and continued laughing for a good 5 seconds.

He: “Sir, what happened, sir?”

Me: “Oh, this is so hilarious. How much money do you make in a month with scams?”

He: “Sir, what sir?”

Me: “I’d love to interview you for my blog. Do you change SIM cards often? Do you use channels other than OLX? What do you do in case someone files a cyber-crime complaint?”

He: (click)

Cyber-crime reporting

This con is well-documented on OLX. I decided to file an online cyber-complaint at https://cybercrime.gov.in/. The process was not too painful. This is what the form asked for.

Category of complaint
- Online and Social Media Related Crime
- Online Financial Fraud
  - Business Email Compromise/Email Takeover
  - Debit/Credit Card Fraud/Sim Swap Fraud
  - Demat/Depository Fraud
  - E-Wallet Related Fraud
  - Fraud Call/Vishing
  - Internet Banking Related Fraud
  - UPI Fraud
- Hacking / Damage to computer,computer system etc
- Online Cyber Trafficking
- Online Gambling / Betting
- Ransomware
- Cryptocurrency Crime
- Cyber Terrorism
- Any Other Cyber Crime
Have you lost money? Yes/No
Approximate date & time of Incident/receiving/viewing of content: 18 Apr 2022 18:10
Is there any delay in reporting? No
Where did the incident occur?
- Email
- Facebook
- Instagram
- Snapchat
- Twitter
- WhatsApp
- Website Url
- Youtube
- LinkedIn
- Telegram
- Other
Other Media: OLX
Supporting Evidence (Upload Media/Image/Pdf): Uploaded
Please provide any additional information about the incident: …

My thanks to Vinod, Gaurav, and the third friend. I filed my first police complaint 🙂

How the police responded is another story…

Comments

Sai 15 Mar 2023 9:37 am: Haha. Thanks for sharing this. I went through exactly the same thing when I was relocating to Sgp too quite recently.
Pratyush 14 Oct 2022 8:04 pm: Hey, thanks a lot for sharing this. Please also share how the police responded. We too filed a police complained but never saw any action.

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