Woman orders masks online, gets duped of ₹4 lakh

The Wadala TT police have arrested a 23-year-old man, an engineer from South Mumbai for cheating a 28-year-old woman, an exporter, to a tune of ₹4 lakhs on the pretext

The Wadala TT police have arrested a 23-year-old man, an engineer from South Mumbai for cheating a 28-year-old woman, an exporter, to a tune of ₹4 lakhs on the pretext of selling face masks at a low rate.

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The woman had placed an online order for 1.60 lakh pieces of face mask and paid ₹4 lakhs as advance to the accused Abrar Mustaq Bodle, 23.

The trader had placed the order due to the growing demand for masks in Oman and France in the wake of coronavirus.

According to the police, the complainant Namrata Navinchandra Manocha, is a resident of Bhakti Park in Wadala. Manocha is the director of an import and export company which deals with workmen’s attire and exports the same across Gulf countries.

Manocha in her statement said that on February 28, her firm received order from Oman and France demanding face masks in bulk. “Using a business app, Manocha approached the proprietor of the firm and contacted him on his mobile number. She then asked her for the pictures of the face masks, GST and ISO certificate and other documents to finalise the deal,” said the statement given to police.

She then placed an order of 1.60 lakh face masks worth ₹14.40 lakhs.

Manocha said, “On March 5, as per the deal ₹ 4 lakhs were transferred to the account of the accused. Later, my chartered accountant informed that the status of the GST and ISO certificate were fake.

“With the increasing demand of face mask and sanitiser many people have created video advertisements and are cheating people through social networking sites. People should avoid such fake dealers on online sites and check the authenticity before transferring the cash or finalising the deal,” said Manocha.

The Wadala Truck Terminus Police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act, 2000.