Inter-state OLX advertisement racket busted, 1 held in Rohtak

Sunit Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, May 18

With the arrest of one person, the police claimed to have unearthed an inter-state racket of fraudsters defrauding people by putting fake advertisements on the OLX app. Police investigation revealed that residents of several villages in Rajasthan were involved in such online frauds.

Harish of Rohtak had informed the police that he saw the advertisement of a Bullet motorcycle on OLX, with the seller identifying himself as Manjit Singh, an Army jawan. Harish said he paid Rs 59,200 through Paytm, but the seller neither gave him the motorcycle nor did he get his money back.

Several residents lodged similar complaints, in which sellers claiming to be Army, paramilitary or police personnel put advertisements for vehicles or smartphones. Rohtak SP Jashandeep Singh Randhawa constituted an SIT led by ASP Maqsood Ahmed to probe such matters.

The team arrested Mubarik of Paharpur village in Palwal district from Faridabad in this connection. He was produced in a local court, which remanded him in police custody for four days. His interrogation revealed that nearly every resident of Paadla village in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan was involved in online frauds.

Apart from Paadla village, most residents of Hingota, Gangpuri, Kama and Toda were reportedly involved in online frauds. All identity proofs, SIM cards, accounts and pictures were fake. The fraudsters downloaded the OLX app using forged SIMs and Paytm app was downloaded using separate SIM cards attached to an active KYC account.

Modus operandi 

• Residents of Paadla, Hingota, Gangpuri, Kama and Toda involved in online fraud
• All identity proofs, SIM cards, accounts and pictures used by the fraudsters are fake
• Fraudsters download OLX app using forged SIMs to put their fake advertisements
• Paytm app downloaded using separate SIM cards attached to active KYC accounts