The Sarthana Police have arrested six individuals involved in a large-scale online shopping scam that defrauded consumers across India. The accused admitted that their fraudulent operation generated monthly profits between Rs5 lakh and Rs7 lakh by offering heavily discounted kitchen and household products, which were never delivered. It is estimated that over 18 months, the scammers collected approximately Rs20 crore.
The arrested individuals are Ashish Hadiya, Sanjay Katariya, Parth Savani, Yash Savani, Sagar Khunt, and Dilip Paghdal.
According to Sarthana Police Inspector M.B. Zala, the gang created several fraudulent websites that mimicked well-known e-commerce platforms. They used domain names like offerkkart.shop, flipofferzone.online, flipofferkart.shop, and offerflipzone.shop. These sites advertised products typically valued between Rs1,500 to Rs2,000 at heavily discounted prices of Rs300 to Rs400, enticing consumers to make payments via QR codes. However, once the payment was made, the scammers failed to deliver any products.
Investigations revealed that the accused obtained bank accounts for Rs8,000 to Rs10,000 each to facilitate the fraudulent transactions. The scam had been operating for over 18 months. During raids at three rented shops in Surat, police seized eight laptops, 98 bank kits, 52 SIM cards, and 21 mobile phones. Further analysis of the laptops uncovered over 1,000 Gmail accounts linked to various bank accounts, demonstrating the vast scale of the operation.
In a bid to avoid detection, the scammers ensured that their online offers were not visible to social media users in Gujarat. This tactic minimized local complaints, as customers from other states, who lost only ₹300-₹400, were less likely to pursue legal action. This strategy allowed the scam to continue without significant interference for a prolonged period.
