“Don’t fall in the dark web of fake sites”, warned Mumbai Police in one of its recent tweets after 22000 people get duped of Rs 70 lakh by a shopping website. According to a Hindustan Times report, after various complaints registered against a shopping website called shopiiee.com, the police took action and arrested a 32-year-old technology expert named Ashish Ahire from Gujarat who completed his education in London.

According to Rashmi Karandikar, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (cybercrime), this man in his 30s is the head of the gang involved in the fraud. Reports reveal that this fake website was selling items like imitation jewellery, dresses, etc. through advertisements on Facebook and the gang behind this work duped 22,000 people across the country.

Post this incident, Mumbai police released a list of 12 fake shopping sites on Tuesday. According to the authorities, these listed websites also have a record of cheating customers.