Two arrested for duping car sellers on web portal
The Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) police have seized eight luxury cars, including a BMW, and arrested two fraudsters who duped many by impersonating as buyers and sellers on online shopping portal OLX. One of the seized cars, BMW, bears a sticker of ‘Home Ministry’ on its wind shield, the police said.
Both the accused have been identified as Mohammed Ayaz Sayeed (27) and Arif Sayeed (33). One of officers privy to investigation said both of them had adopted two modus operandis by getting in touch with the prospective buyers and sellers of four wheelers.
“Mohammed Ayaz Sayeed would search for prospective buyers of four wheelers on OLX website. They had kept very tempting price of the high-end cars. With the help of his accomplice Arif, Ayaz would convince customers that many buyers are ready to purchase those cars at low price. Once the deal was done, they would accept the advance money from customers and would tell them that few repairing work is pending in the car and they would hand over the keys once it is repaired. After that they would disappear,” said a senior police officer attached to BKC police station. The case was registered against the duo on April 12, when a complainant approached BKC police station after he was cheated by them.
In a bid to purchase the car from online shopping portal, the duo would convince the sellers that they have transferred the money via NEFT and they would show them a ‘self-typed’ message on their cellphone. They always chose bank holiday to purchase the car so that they could convince the owner of the car by telling them that money has been debited from his account but it would be credited once the bank re-opens.
“Ayaz is a tech savvy. He saw an advertise on OLX and contacted the owner of the car. They planned to meet at a hotel in Bandra east where he checked all the documents of the car before purchasing. When the complainant went to washroom, Mohammed Ayaz ‘self-typed’ a message to show that money has been debited from his account and the same money would be credited to his account. Later, asked for a test drive and the complainant agreed,” said the police.The investigators have arrested both the accused on the basis of technical evidences. Mohammed Ayaz Sayeed, resident of Kharghar, was arrested on May 18 and his accomplice Arif Sayeed, who owns a garage in Vikhroli, was held on May 20.
The police said they both are history sheeters and have multiple cases registered against them at different police stations in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane. Their arrests would help cops solve several pending cases of cheating. They have been booked under Section 420 of IPC and 66 (D) of IT Act.