Luxury cars at throwaway prices, new bait of online fraudsters

When the public became aware about the online fake  lottery scam, the Nigerian online mafia has adopted a new modus operandi to woo the gullible. A Delhi-based Nigerian team is using popular trading websites to offer  luxury cars at throwaway prices. They convince gullible victims by saying they are selling foreign luxury cars seized by the Customs Department for duty evasion. 

The Central Crime Branch of Greater Chennai police have already received more than six complaints from people who have lost between Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 2 lakh to these fraudsters. “The fraudsters claim that these cars could not be sold at a higher price as they were seized by the Customs Department for duty evasion. So when new cars worth Rs. 60 lakh and above are offered for  as low as Rs. 4 lakh, people fall for the bait,” a senior police official attached to the CCB told DTNext.

The racketeers in several cases use pictures of brand new luxury cars in their advertisements to impress prospective clients. Once a customer shows interest, the fraudsters contact him or her and ask the customer to remit  ‘a few thousand rupees’ towards registration and handling charges  a designated bank account. 

“Many readily pay this amount and the criminals continue to extract money from them under one pretext or the other. Some of them have lost up to Rs. 2 lakh and many came to us after losing Rs. 30,000 or more,” the official added.

The complainants have told the CCB officials that after making the payment, they are unable to contact the persons who made the offer. When the victims fail to establish contact with the ‘traders’ even after repeated attempts, they realise that they have been taken for a ride. “It is so difficult to trace the persons behind this racket. Like any other online fraud, they use bank accounts created by using fictitious  documents or hoodwink some to get access to their bank accounts. “We have also found that many persons were  also cheated after they disclosed details of their bank accounts,” the official added. The CCB team has launched an investigation in to this new online fraud and are trying to trace the accounts used by the racketeers. 

“Nobody is going to sell a car worth Rs. 60 lakh or more for as low as  Rs. 4 lakh. People should be cautious when they come across such advertisements and should inform police before going for any financial transactions,” the senior official attached to the CCB added.