Online second hand car sale ad bait costs businessman Rs 2.18 lakh

Pune: A 47-year-old businessman’s wish to buy an old car after seeing an advertisement on an online platform cost him Rs2.18 lakh last month because he did not verify the authenticity of the advertisers.
The businessman has lodged a complaint in this regard with the Bharti Vidyapeeth police. Police said the man transferred the amount to a given bank account of the suspects through a few transactions.

Inspector (crime) R D Wagchaure said, “The suspects had given a detailed description of the car, including its registration number (of Pune city), in the advertisement. They also shared their four cellphone numbers. The complainant called up on those numbers and further inquired about the vehicle. After a few telephonic conversations, he expressed his interest in buying the car. The suspects told the businessman to deposit Rs1.26 lakh in an account with a nationalized bank and collect the car from Pune airport.”

When the businessman went to the airport, Wagchaure said, he could not find the vehicle. He got a call again from the suspects after a while asking him to deposit Rs92,000 more. “After the amount was deposited, the suspects switched off their cellphones,” the inspector said.

The Bharti Vidyapeeth police and the cybercrime cell are running a parallel investigation into the case. A source in the police said these suspects mainly operated from outside Maharashtra and investigating such cases required substantial time.

The police said people should pay attention to such advertisements before investing their money. “We have issued instructions in this regard and appealed to people not to fall prey to such tricks. Everybody should check advertisements thoroughly before transferring any money. The complainant should have asked for the vehicle’s documents before transferring money, but he did not,” another source said.