Since so much of our shopping is now done online, vigilance is required. If you aren't careful enough, you might end up with a neatly packaged 'delivery' of chappals, stones or scrap.

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Mumbai crime branch on Wednesday busted a unique online racket with the arrest of a former call centre employee who allegedly duped 34 customers of a total Rs 1.85 lakh. Kisan Singh (26), a former employee of a call centre, was charged on Thursday under Indian Penal Code sections for cheating, forgery and breach of trust, and remanded to police custody till May 8.

The case came to light after ShopCJ TV, an online shopping store, began to receive abusive calls from customers who complained their delivery packages contained stones, chappals and scrap.

"Initially, we did not believe them but after several customers began to make similar complaints, we took the matter seriously and approached the police, as we did not want our reputation to be damaged," said Nazim Mohammed, manager (legal), ShopCJ TV.

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Cops studied each case individually to understand the modus operandi. "The accused had been using different numbers to dial the call centre as well the customers. We finally detained him with technical help from service providers," said Prashant Raje, police inspector, crime branch Unit II.

During his interrogation, Singh reportedly admitted to duping at least 34 customers. Giving details of his modus operandi, Singh said first he would browse trackmyorder.com and randomly type in numbers.

He had a rudimentary idea of numbers to be keyed in as he was earlier employed with a call centre that handled the back-end of online delivery websites. Once a number matched an actual delivery order, he would dial the call centre and inquire about the expected delivery time.

"He would then ask for the customer's phone numbers, saying he wanted to cross-check the details.

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Assuming he was a genuine customer, they would also share product details, including the amount to be paid. Singh would call up the customers, say the order was ready to be shipped and ask for their address," said Bhaskar Kadam, investigating officer.

Singh would create a package, add the brand tag, deliver it, accept cash, and leave.

"There is no hard and fast rule that packages must be opened the instant they are delivered. Normally, customers do not suspect the delivery person. Delivery persons usually visit between 8 am and 8 pm but the accused had landed up at customers' homes even after 11 pm," said Mohammed and added that the company has delivered the actual items to all the duped customers.