Reliance registers FIR against fake Campa Cola website

Cyber frauds created a fake website, bank account and email address in the name of Campa Cola through which they mobilised money towards registration charges.

MUMBAI: The LT Marg police station on Thursday registered a case against unknown offenders for defrauding traders by offering dealerships of Campa Cola, a soft drink owned by Reliance Consumer Products Limited (RCPL). Cyber frauds created a fake website, bank account and email address in the name of Campa Cola through which they mobilised money towards registration charges for becoming a dealer or super stockist of the beverage, RCPL said in a police complaint.

campa cola. new delhi,photo:pradeep gaur/mint

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According to the complaint, the company learned about the fake website in May this year when a consumer informed them about receiving a mail from info@campacola.org, which was not created by the company.

The mail directed recipients to a website https://www.campacolaapplicationstatus.com, where they could sign up as dealers or super stockists of the beverage in lieu of a fee. Several traders paid the fee of ₹49,500 in the bank account displayed on the website and were disgruntled when they did not get any response the fraudsters, they later told RCPL representatives.

“Traders were asked to fill up an application form on the fake website and the account number displayed on the site was in the Fort branch of a prominent bank. When we enquired into it, we found that the account was in the name of Campa Cola, but it was not opened by us,” the company told the police in its complaint.

In order to make their offer seem credible, the fraudsters included an official-looking notice on a company letterhead bearing the company’s insignia with their email.

During an internal probe, RCPL found that the email address, website and bank account did not belong to the company despite being floated in its name. RCPL also did not float any email-based dealership or franchisee scheme, as mentioned in the complaint.

An official from LT Marg police confirmed that a case was registered against unknown accused under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 469 (forgery for the purpose of harming reputation) and 471 of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act. Further investigation is on to track the accused through the bank account and phone numbers mentioned in their emails, he said.

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A spokesperson from RIL told HT that they had given all necessary details of the case to the police and had nothing else to add.