This story is from April 14, 2020

Your thirst for booze may get you swindled in lockdown

With the liquor shops closed due to the lockdown many people have received text messages from service providers, claiming to deliver alcohol to homes
Your thirst for booze may get you swindled in lockdown
Many people have received text messages from service providers, claiming to deliver alcohol to homes during the lockdown. They offer delivery of the choicest imported liquor brands upon a nominal delivery fee, and claim to have ‘reasonable’ prices. With the liquor shops closed due to the lockdown, this seems alluring for those thirsty for some booze. However, as many locked down tipplers are discovering, quite a lot of such messages are part of a scheme to swindle people.
Upon contacting them, the 'service providers' respond with a brochure of brands available to choose from, along with a rate card. Once you transfer a certain advance – ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 2000 depending upon the order – they block the customer and vanish.
A resident of Gurgaon Sector 53, who did not wish to be named, says, "I saw a message being forwarded on a WhatsApp group I am a part of that claimed to deliver premium scotch brands home for a Rs 200 delivery fee. I contacted them and the prices were the same as the market rate, so I transferred Rs 1000 via UPI. But after that, neither did I get the delivery, nor any acknowledgement of payment." Many such con artists are emboldened by the fact that people are hesitant in reporting such cases to the police. Some even fear that the police may take them to task for procuring alcohol while the shops are closed. "I did not report it because I wasn't sure of the legality of it all. Also, the amount I lost was Rs 500. It was more embarrassing than anything else," says one victim from Delhi.
The Cyber Crime Cell of Gurugram Police has received a couple of complaints . "We have registered complaints and are investigating," a spokesperson for Gurugram Police tells us. However, even as the police say they are on the case, those in the know say that in the current situation, such cases may fall low in police's list of priorities.
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