Man got celebs to promote fraud website selling phones

MUMBAI: The Shivaji Park police have arrested a 21-year-old man from Surat on Thursday for cheating a 20-year-old girl to the tune of ₹19,810 by promising to sell her a high-end phone at a cheaper rate.

The girl, an MBA student from Dadar, had visited a web portal created by the accused and paid the amount to buy a high-end mobile, but received a small phone instead. The arrested accused used a TV celebrity to promote his web portal and allegedly claims to have paid them ₹50,000 for the promotion.

The accused Mohammed Ahmed Mumtaz Peerbhai, 21, is a Class 10 passout from Surat. He used to earlier sell mobile covers in a shop owned by him in Surat.

“We arrested the accused on July 26 from his residence in Surat. He was in police custody till Sunday and has been sent to jail. We have completely recovered the amount, a total of ₹19,800,” said Suryakant Gaikwad, senior inspector, Shivaji Park police station.

Peerbhai said that this type of cheating is very common in Surat and one of his friends had taught him the method. He has claimed to have cheated more than 30 to 35 people across India.

“The accused claimed that he used to buy the mobile phones from Dubai at cheaper rates. Peerbhai said he used to follow the Instagram profiles of some celebrities and used to ask them to promote his website. He paid them ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh as fee for the promotion,” said Pandhari Kande, assistant inspector, Shivaji Park police station.

“The portal prepared by Peerbhai claimed to sell high-end mobile phones at cheaper prices. Rajput was attracted when she saw the website’s link on a TV actor’s Instagram profile and she decided to buy a phone.” Rajput was first asked to pay ₹2,000 to an e-wallet account and she then paid the remaining amount upon the mobile’s delivery. “Rajput paid ₹19,810 in total, but received a small phone instead. She had approached us and a case was registered in March this year,” said Kande.