With Deepavali round the corner, the police said people should be cautious while making purchases online and said a total of 25 such cases have been registered during the past one month.
Over 25 cases of fake websites selling fireworks and crackers have been reported in a month, the Cyber Crime Wing of the Tamil Nadu Police said on Saturday, while issuing an advisory ahead of Deepavali.
Cyber criminals, by making fake claims that firecrackers are available for sale at dirt cheap prices, have duped many people and the public should be vigilant, the Tamil Nadu police said on Saturday.
Outlining the modus operandi, an official release here said people were lured through advertisements, with bogus offers on social media platforms. Eventually, they get directed to a website where they make online payments to receive firecrackers.
However, once the payment was made, the contact phone numbers of the bogus firms became inaccessible and people were cheated.
The public must, hence, exercise caution and diligently make their purchase decisions after ascertaining the veracity of claims made online.
People may lodge their complaints at www.cybercrime.gov.in or call the toll-free number 1930 for assistance. Deepavali falls on November 12.
