Odisha man held for duping customers through fake ‘online store’

Bhubaneswar: Do you prefer shopping online instead of visiting the nearest shop? Think twice before booking products through several social media platforms instead from trusted online shopping portals as you might get cheated.

In one such incident of fraud, Commissionerate Police on Tuesday arrested a man for duping consumers by promising branded garments at much cheaper rates on social media.

The accused identified as Rashmi Ranjan Pani (33) was arrested for cheating people to the tune of Rs 4 lakh through his fake company ‘Gateway Foundation.’

Addressing a presser, Police Commissioner YB Khurania informed that Pani used to lure people to book products through his Gateway Foundation’s Facebook post by offering readymade garments at cheaper rates.

Pani used to contact prospective buyers through Whatsapp and Facebook. Once the buyers selected the garments, they were asked to make payments in advance through NEFT, Paytm and other modes.

A senior official said once the money was paid by the customer, Pani used to block the buyer from all modes of communication.

“One Chirag Jain had initially reported such fraud through an email which was verified and later the accused Rashmi Pani, who is a graduate, was arrested after a case was registered by Badagad police station yesterday.” said Khurania.

All the payments by buyers were made to Pani’s Canara Bank account in which cash deposits worth Rs 3.39 lakh from various sources since 2017 have been found.

Commissionerate Police officials informed that so far 11 persons who were cheated have been traced while efforts are on to ascertain the exact amount duped.