Ola electric scooter scam: How this gang duped over 1,000 people of crores of rupees

A gang operating pan India has been able to trick more than 1,000 people into making payments worth crores of rupees with the promise of selling them an Ola electric scooter, as per a tweet by news agency ANI. The Delhi cyber crime police busted the gang that duped people through an online scam, making an arrest of 20 people. The accused were held from various cities across the country, including Bengaluru, Gurugram, and Patna, says DCP Outer North, Devesh Mahla.
Mahla informed on Monday that the gang duped over 1,000 people into making payments for the purchase of an Ola Electric scooter. The scam Ola electric scooter scam came after a First Information Report (FIR) was registered under Section 420 of IPC on the basis of a complaint received by the cyber police station on the 7th of October.

The scam had been underway for long and started with only two persons who put up a fake website in Bengaluru for the retail of Ola Electric scooters and targetted potential customers. As soon as a new customer’s details were entered on this website, the two would share the contact details with gang members in other states, the police say.
The Bihar and Telangana verticals of this gang would then ask the contacts to transfer Rs 499 for bookings. This would be followed by them asking for a transfer of Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000 for insurance and transportation charges.

In the FIR filed in October, the complainant states that they tried to book an Ola Electric scooter via the Ola app on 26th September, although the transaction was not completed since Ola Electric does not offer finance options.
This is where the gang was active. The complainant then received a call from a person who described the offline method of booking a scooter for which a payment of Rs 499 was made. This payment was made via PayU app and the next day, an email was sent with details about finance options.
This person’s FIR perhaps saved a lot many more from making payments to the gang. Lesson to learn: Make no payments to any agency, body, or person except the official OEM website or app. No OEM will ever contact to make a payment via a method that isn’t accessible through the official website.