Student held for duping Amazon of Rs 20 lakh

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Yeshwanthpur police arrested a student who had allegedly cheated e-commerce giant Amazon India to the tune of Rs 20.34 lakh by making numerous online purchases, and then claiming a refund without returning the purchased product.

With the arrest, the police claimed to have recovered iPhones and MacBooks and other expensive devices from his possession.

The youth was arrested based on a complaint filed by the manager of Amazon Transportation Services Private Limited on May 26. The complaint stated that a person had ordered four iPhone devices and sought delivery at the same location after making an online payment.

However, within a day after receiving the devices, he demanded refunds using Amazon's customer return system, C-return through the app.

Updating a different address for the C-return, the offender managed to get the refund for his payment from Amazon. However he did not return the devices to the pick-up staff, the manager stated to the police.

Initiating a probe, the police tracked the offender and freezed his bank account which had Rs 30 lakh credited from different bank accounts. Also, 17 mobile phones, 2 MacBooks, a desktop, gaming laptop, Apple Airpods and an air conditioner were recovered by the police.

The police expressed suspicion of more involvement in the case and that the youth was being paid commission through crypto-currency for running the fraud.

The accused told the police that he was involved in the cheating in collusion with a former employee of the company and was doing it on commission basis.

He told the police that he contacted the prime accused after noticing an advertisement on Telegram app which offered to buy expensive products from Amazon and also get a refund.

Further investigation is underway.