A person, believed to be operating from Delhi, allegedly cheated dozens of people ordering oxygen concentrators through a popular e-commerce platform.
The scam was exposed after a city-based businessman N. Kannan of Periyar Nagar lodged a complaint with the Chennai police that the suspect took ₹1 lakh via bank transfer and failed to deliver two oxygen concentrators that he had ordered for an old age home here.
Acting on specific inputs, the Delhi Police froze the suspect’s bank account, though he had already withdrawn the entire money transferred by unsuspecting people who placed orders for oxygen concentrators or other life-saving gadgets.
The Mumbai Police are also looking for the suspect, who used the GST number of a reputed textiles firm in the invoices that he issued to fool people.
Explainer | How does an oxygen concentrator help?
Since the contact address he gave was in Maharashtra, the Chennai police alerted their counterparts in Mumbai. However, investigators from the Mumbai Crime Branch found that the mobile phones of the suspect, which were switched off, were never active in Maharashtra but were used in Noida and Delhi.
In view of the pandemic and lockdown/travel restrictions in different States, it would be difficult for police to zero-in on such suspects. But the digital footprints would help in establishing his identity and lead to his arrest, a police officer said.
