Mumbai: A software engineer has been arrested by Matunga police for allegedly duping people by posting advertisements on social media for expensive iPhones. The accused, however, never delivered the product. Investigation revealed the accused duped several people in foreign countries too.
Police said a 22-year-old woman came across a Facebook advertisement for iPhone’s first copy model at a reasonable price of `21,400. The ad was posted on an FB handle by Antique Fashion Hub company. The woman found the ad appealing and contacted the given number and spoke to Bhavik Chandegra (22). She enquired about the legitimacy of the offer and showed her interest in buying the phone.
On October 3, the woman transferred `10,400 to Bhavik’s PayTM account and asked him to send her the phone. However, Bhavik was adamant on getting the full payment to deliver the phone. Then, she transferred the remaining `10,000 the next day and asked him to get her iPhone delivered. Despite the woman’s repeated calls and messages, Bhavik remained unavailable. After a wait for two weeks, she approached Matunga police and filed a complaint.
The probe revealed Bhavik was a Surat-based software engineer, who had duped many people in foreign countries using a similar modus operandi. Following the IP address and the bank a/c details, police nabbed Bhavik from Surat on Sunday night and brought him to city on Monday. Police have booked Bhavik under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.