Rising OLX fraud major concern for Gurugram Police
Gurugram, Sep 12 (IANS) A number of frauds related to online platforms like OLX is an increasing concern for the Gurugram Police.
The city police have registered 17 FIRs after receiving 435 complaints related to OLX fraud till September 10 this year.
To deal with this menace, a meeting was held recently between the senior officers of the Gurugram Police and OLX officials. During this meeting, the police suggested some measures to OLX officials to take necessary steps to combat such incidents.
According to the police, the fraudsters adopt several techniques to dupe their targets, like fraud money is routed through multiple gateways, thus further complicating the probe.
Nitika Gahlaut, DCP (headquarters), Gurugram Police, said that the police have received multiple complaints related to online frauds.
“To curb such frauds, we have given valuable suggestions to OLX and have also pointed out some loopholes on the website which fraudsters are using to dupe people. We have suggested the company officials to cross-check their users’ details. The company has to ensure that a user can create only one account using one mobile number,” the DCP said.
The officer further said that the fraudsters keep coming up with new ways to cheat people.
“From this year, we have also started to separately document cyber frauds related to OLX and other online platforms,” she said.
“We have also suggested the company to implement verified user tags in case any user uploads any product or ad on the website. It is the responsibility of the company, they have to collect entire information about the user before verifying them on the platform.
“For example, the company has to check the real time of the user while listing the product along with the user image and ID proof,” she added.
The DCP also asserted that such incidents will be strictly curbed in the future.
“We have also given strict directions to the company management. If we find lapses on behalf of the company, stern actions will be initiated as per the law,” she said.
OLX also claimed to have a threefold strategy to deal with online fraud.
“We have taken several measures to stop such fraudulent activities, like we have started capturing GPS locations of the users, made mobile numbers mandatory while posting an ad, registrations through email ids have been discontinued, implementing verified user tags with ID proof with photo, awareness videos educating users on how to transact safely on the platform, safety tips on homepage of our app, safety tips notifications in different languages and helpline to resolve the grievances of the users.
“We have been collaborating closely with the police’s cyber cells agencies across the country and giving them all possible support to help nab the fraudsters,” said an OLX spokesperson.
–IANS
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