BENGALURU: E-commerce major
Flipkart alleged it suffered over Rs 1.6 crore loss in less than two years due to refunding customers who claimed they received stones and mud instead of the items ordered.
Cybercrime police registered a case on Tuesday against unknown persons based on a complaint lodged by Murthy SN, nodal officer, Flipkart Internet Pvt Ltd. Flipkart had sustained these losses from January 1, 2016 to November 3, 2017. Police said many customers who placed orders for costly gadgets, especially smartphones and cameras, approached the firm’s customer care within the stipulated period with complaints on delivery. “They complained they received stones and mud instead of gadgets. Some took photographs of the stones and mud and emailed them to the company as proof. The company paid the customers without proper verification. However, the company suspects several teams are using this modus operandi to
cheat the company,” a police officer said.
The firm furnished details of suspicious customers who placed orders for costly gadgets and complained they had received stones and mud. The complainant provided bank details about refunds.The firm smelt a racket on finding that certain bank accounts had received multiple refunds. Investigators will follow the money trail to unearth the truth.
Though the company didn’t specify the product segment that is highly vulnerable, police sources said it is usually electronic and mobile gadgets that are returned to the company as bricks and sand.
A few customers have tried to defraud the company by claiming
wrongful deliveries. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards all incidents of
fraud, said a Flipkart spokesperson on wrongful deliveries.
Flipkart