Man Ends Up Paying ₹29 Lakhs For An iPhone While Buying From Instagram, Here’s How To Protect Yourself

An iPhone is an expensive phone, we all know that. Nonetheless, this man ended up paying Rs. 29 Lakhs for a phone just because he wanted to buy it for cheap from an Instagram page.

Online shopping has made life very convenient. Anything can be bought online, be it groceries, electronics, or real estate. With the advent of the internet, many small businesses have cropped up and people are not limited to one particular site for their purchase.

Unfortunately, with innumerable choices on display, it has also become increasingly difficult to keep a check on sites that are not authentic. People without the proper knowledge of precautions are duped of their finances.

The Man Who Just Wanted An iPhone

Vikas Katiyar filed a complaint with the South West District’s Cyber Police Station in Delhi. He said that he had visited an Instagram page where iPhones were being sold at a cheaper price. Intrigued, he wanted one for himself.

Read More: ResearchED: Why Are Cybercrime Cases Becoming Harder To Crack?

Vikas checked the page and made calls to a few of the previous buyers to make sure that the page was authentic. They all claimed that the page was genuine and that they had received their phones without any problems.

Satisfied with his investigation, he made an advance payment of Rs. 28,000. The sellers then contacted him with several phone numbers and convinced him to pay more on the pretext of clearing customs and other related taxes.

Katiyar has till now paid Rs. 28,69,850 to different accounts. He was hoping to receive the phone and the refund.

How To Stay Safe

• If a large amount is concerned, only shop with reputed retailers.
• Be suspicious of deals that sound amazing and too good to be true.
• Try paying cash on delivery if the source does not look credible. You can also pay via debit or credit cards, or make a UPI transaction on delivery.
• Report the scammers so that others are safe.

Do you know of any other methods to stay safe? Let us know in the comments.

Disclaimer: This article is fact-checked.

Image Credits: Google Images

Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth

Sources: India Today, Business Today, The Economic Times

Find the blogger: Pragya Damani

This post is tagged under: iPhone, online shopping, man duped, 29 lakh, cybercrime, stay safe

Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, copyright over any of the images used, these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.

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