A major “swap scam” inside an e-commerce delivery system in Bengaluru has come to light, where four delivery employees have been accused of systematically replacing high-value online orders with fake items, causing losses worth lakhs of rupees to the company. Police have registered a case and launched an investigation into the incident.
Logistics Sabotage and Hub-Level Displacements
The accused have been identified as Nitin Murthy, Vishnu, Girish, and Akash. All four were working as outsourced delivery staff through a vendor and were associated with a Flipkart delivery hub located in Varadaraju Layout, Amruthahalli, in north Bengaluru.
According to officials, the fraud allegedly took place between February 1 and April 30, during which the accused are said to have exploited gaps in the delivery and return system to target high-value products. Preliminary findings suggest that they placed orders for expensive items such as mobile phones, earbuds, branded clothing, and footwear either in their own names or through acquaintances.
After collecting parcels from the delivery hub, the accused allegedly removed the original products and replaced them with low-value or counterfeit items before resealing the packages.
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Intentional Cancellations and Internal Audit Flags
These resealed parcels were then re-entered into the system with claims that customers were unavailable or that the orders had been cancelled, allowing the scam to continue undetected for a considerable period.
The fraud came to light when repeated cancellations and returns of high-value products raised suspicion among company officials, prompting an internal investigation. The probe reportedly revealed that around 40 products had been tampered with.
The company estimated the total loss at approximately Rs 4.2 lakh, stating that the activity was not isolated but part of a systematic pattern of fraud.
Assets Recovery and Identity Multiplication Devices
During subsequent searches, police recovered Rs 3.92 lakh in cash, gold and silver jewellery worth around Rs 13 lakh, a motorcycle, air conditioners, computers, and other household items believed to have been purchased using proceeds of the alleged scam.
Investigators also seized nine mobile phones, seven active SIM cards, 31 additional SIM cards, and three memory cards. Authorities believe these devices were used to create multiple identities, manage communication, and carry out fraudulent operations without detection.
Police records indicate that the main accused has multiple previous cases registered across Odisha, including in Cuttack, Puri, Jajpur, Balasore, and Bhadrak. He was also reportedly facing a non-bailable warrant issued by a court in Balasore.
Systematic Weaknesses and Verification Protocols
Officials suspect that similar frauds may have been carried out in other regions as well, and the investigation has now been expanded to identify additional victims and possible associates linked to the network.
Authorities are currently analyzing digital records, call detail data, and financial transactions to map the full extent of the operation and determine whether a larger interstate network is involved.
Police have urged citizens to avoid dealing with unauthorized agents or individuals claiming to provide banking or online services and to rely only on official and verified platforms.
The case highlights how small loopholes in e-commerce delivery systems can be exploited for organized fraud, particularly in semi-urban operational hubs where oversight may be limited.
Officials said further action will be based on forensic findings and digital evidence, and the accused are expected to be produced before the court for custody proceedings soon.
