Bengaluru Cyber Crime Police have arrested three people from Gujarat for allegedly defrauding e-commerce platform Meesho of Rs 5.5 crore.
Officials said three people — Utthamkumar, Parthaa Bai, and Mulik Haribai — have been arrested, while three others are absconding. A total of Rs 25 lakh has been recovered from them. They reportedly used 250 sim cards for bookings and 50 bank accounts for claiming and withdrawing the funds.
The arrests follow a detailed investigation into a complaint filed by the company on July 1, 2024, at the Whitefield Cyber Crime Police Station.
According to the complaint, the accused created fake buyer accounts on the Meesho app, placing orders under fictitious names and addresses. The returned products were directed to a fake entity, Om Sai Fashion, set up by the accused in Surat, Gujarat. They allegedly replaced the original items in the returned parcels, recorded falsified videos showing damaged or altered products, and sent these to Meesho to claim refunds. The fraudulently claimed money was then transferred to accounts controlled by the accused.
The scam, active from January to July 2024, saw the accused placing an average of 2,000–2,500 fake orders daily, investigators revealed.