Two separate cyber fraud cases reported in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore have again highlighted the risks tied to online payments and social media shopping. A civil engineer lost ₹1.12 lakh after unauthorised transactions were carried out using his credit cards, while a college student was allegedly cheated of nearly ₹40,000 after ordering a dress through Instagram and falling for a fake verification process. Police have registered FIRs in both cases and launched investigations into the digital transactions, bank accounts and online platforms involved.
A Silent ₹1.12 Lakh Credit Card Compromise
According to police, civil engineer Anand Banvadikar, a resident of Sai Villa Apartment in Dhanvantari Nagar under Rajendra Nagar police station limits, reported that two ICICI Bank credit cards issued in his name were used for online transactions without his knowledge. He said that on July 8, around noon, he received multiple transaction alerts on his phone that led him to discover the unauthorised payments.
The complaint states that two transactions of ₹51,000 each were made using one card, while a third payment of ₹10,000 was processed through the second, bringing the total loss to ₹1.12 lakh. Banvadikar immediately informed his bank and blocked both cards to prevent further misuse. Preliminary investigation indicates the transactions were processed through Amazon Seller Services and Cashfree Innovative Retail ID, and police are now examining payment records, transaction logs and beneficiary accounts to determine exactly how the card details were compromised and the payments successfully executed.
A Fake Verification Step Turns a ₹999 Order Into a ₹40,000 Loss
The second case was reported from the Bhanwarkuan police station area, where student Mona Nagar alleged she was duped while shopping on social media. According to her complaint, she ordered a dress worth ₹999 on July 8 from an Instagram account named “Suman Woman.” Shortly after placing the order, she received a call from a man claiming the order required a verification process.
The caller allegedly asked her to transfer ₹500 as part of this fabricated procedure. After she paid, she was persuaded into a further “verification step” requiring additional online transactions, during which nearly ₹40,000 was fraudulently debited from her account. She realised she had been cheated only after noticing the unauthorised withdrawals. Her case fits a well-documented national pattern: fraudulent Instagram shopping accounts routinely advertise trending products at low prices, collect payment through personal UPI handles rather than verified checkout systems, and then either vanish or, as in Nagar’s case, use the transaction itself as a pretext to extract further payments under the guise of confirming the order.
An Investigation Into Two Different Fraud Templates
Investigators in both cases are analysing the mobile numbers used by the suspects, bank accounts, digital payment trails, IP addresses and other electronic evidence, and are examining whether either incident is linked to a larger organised cybercrime network or was carried out independently. The two cases illustrate distinct fraud templates that continue to coexist in India’s digital economy: one exploiting weaknesses in card transaction security without any direct victim interaction, the other relying entirely on social engineering through a fabricated “verification” step that most legitimate payment platforms never actually require.
Prof. Triveni Singh, the former IPS officer and cybercrime specialist, said cybercriminals are increasingly targeting people through credit card fraud and fake social media shopping schemes, with fake verification calls, attractive online offers and pressure to make immediate payments remaining among the most common tactics used. He advised consumers to shop only through verified platforms, never make payments or share OTPs at the request of unknown callers, and to immediately block their cards and report suspicious transactions to their bank and the National Cyber Helpline at 1930 the moment fraudulent activity is detected.
