Bengaluru techie orders phone worth Rs 1.86 lakh, receives tile instead

A Bengaluru software engineer has lodged a complaint with the Kumaraswamy Layout police after allegedly losing Rs 1.86 lakh in a delivery “scam”, in which he received a ceramic tile instead of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 smartphone he had ordered online.

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Police have registered an FIR and launched an investigation into the alleged delivery scam.

Smartphone replaced with tile

Premanand, a software engineer residing in Yelachenahalli, said he placed the order for the high-end smartphone on October 14 through Amazon and paid the full amount using his HDFC credit card. The order was delivered to him on the scheduled date.

The package was delivered on October 19 at around 4:16 pm. However, when Premanand recorded a video of the unboxing, he was shocked to find only a square white tile inside the box instead of the expensive smartphone.

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When he attempted to contact the delivery person, there was no response.

Techie files complaint

He immediately filed a complaint through the National Cybercrime Reporting portal before approaching the Kumaraswamy Layout police station.

Premanand said the accused had placed a piece of tile roughly equal in weight to the phone, which is why he did not suspect anything unusual while accepting the package.

“I had placed the order on Amazon and received a message stating that the product would be delivered on October 20. However, the package was delivered a day earlier, on October 19. They asked for the OTP, and it wasn’t an open-box delivery. After giving the OTP and receiving the parcel, I opened it later only to find a tile instead of the phone,” he said.

“It came in a sealed pack, both the Amazon cover and the mobile box appeared original. But instead of the phone, there was a tile inside. I recorded a video while unboxing the package from the start. I also contacted Amazon customer care and reported the fraud. They assured me that the issue would be resolved within four to five days,” he added.

Evidence submitted to police

The techie has submitted the video recording and supporting documents to the police. The police have registered a case and are investigating the incident.

An FIR has been registered under Sections 318(4) (cheating) and 319 (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Section 66D (cheating by personation using computer resources) of the Information Technology Act.

Police have launched an investigation to identify and trace those involved in the alleged scam.