Sparenkart- An ideal place to lose your money 

When you have limited money and needs, EMIs are like a blessing in disguise. You can buy a 40k+ laptop without worry and pay-off the amount in easy on the pocket EMIs.

There are lots of sites where you can buy on easy EMI like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, eBay and many more. But, there are plenty of sites where you get scammed.

I'm not gonna write about incidents that occurred with others as at times you're not aware of all the facts and it can be a mistake on their behalf. In this post I'm going to tell you about a real fraud that I experienced.

A while back the battery of my phone started to drain sooner than usual so I decided to buy a new one. But, ever since lock down, money has become a big issue as work has stopped completely.

Even though I'm a freelance writer and thought lock down would not affect me, I was wrong. All of my savings got used and now when I needed to buy a new phone, I had no money.

So, I decided to buy on EMIs and started searching for the ideal model. Next, step was to buy and since I didn't have a credit card I opted for the debit card.

I got rejected cause I've never purchased online so my card is not valid for EMI even though my credit score is 800, cause I paid cash EMI on time.

Anyhow, since I had 5k cash I knew I wouldn't get the phone I wanted as it's above 15k. That's when I found refurbished phones which get returned due manufacturing faults.

The company fixes them and they get sold as refurbished phones at a very low price, which was a bonanza for me.

So, I began to search for refurbished phone under 3000 on Chrome. As the page loaded, the first link was of sparenkart.com giving an OPPO refurbished phone for 1249/- INR.

I went through the reviews and they were mixed so I decided to go along. And, here's the outcome (images attached):

I went to the site and selected an OPPO model and added it into the cart and went on with the buying process.

Next, I clicked on the UPI pay link:

Next, I clicked pay link and it went directly to my Paytm bank account and (for the first time I saw such a fast transaction) 1249/- INR got sent to their account.

Next step was to confirm the pay on whatsapp so I did just that and that's where my heart lost tons of heartbeats.

Yes, the whatsapp number in there link is '91' which is too small for whatsapp to pick up and guess what, 1249/- INR is gone from my account. When I went back to the page it says (till date):

Yes, my order is on hold. So, what do you think I did when I found 1249/- INR is gone from my account and the link is bogus. I instantly called on the number on the site, though it was at night, I hoped to get a long ringing as no one would be in the office, but I got "the number is out of service." Then I saw they had an email ID, so sent an email. And, as time went by I started panicking cause I felt it's not right.

Since it was night, I couldn't do anything more and just wait for the morning and see what next.

But, this is not the next I was waiting for:

Yes, right the next morning 3,000/- INR got removed from my account. I instantly called Paytm bank customer service and told them everything. According to them, if you pay for a product or service and if your order is not going through or the product/service is not delivered - the site has to dispatch the said order or pay back and as for the amount removed from my account, once I clarified my debit card is with me and I use it at only two ATMs near my home and never gave it to anyone, so they told the investigation is on and usually matters like these involve the police so it can take up to 10-15 days, I'm waiting for the outcome.

Now, my main reason for writing. I know how hard we all work to make the money and most of us work for paying bills. It's hard earned money and buying a phone was a necessity as at times I have to work on my phone and my present one was short on battery and internal memory.

I don't see how it's so easy to just hack someone's account and just empty it as if it's yours.

I mean you took 1249/- INR, isn't that enough, you need to empty the account. Now what am I to say to the grocery store, "oh sorry my money got removed from my account, I'll pay you later."

It might seem a joke, but really how can you fraudsters do such a thing. Take someone's hard earned money and be so easy with it.

I felt like my world had crashed. First 1249/- and now 3,000 INR lost. I didn't know what to do and what would be the outcome.

One thing for sure I cursed them badly for what they did. I know today they might be enjoying hacking money from people and spending it but this won't last long.

Hacking money may look like a great way to make money but the person who loses the money, you can't even try to imagine the loss. It's not about the money but the hard work behind the money and the necessities that amount was to clear.

Now because of this fraud I'm in debt and don't know how I'll clear the bills.

It's been 10 days since the incident and today as I was writing this post, I rechecked on Chrome, but this time sparenkart.com didn't come in the list. I don't know if they decide to lay low for a while or if it's the cause of the investigation.

Anyhow, for now I'm waiting for Paytm bank's investigation outcome and hope to get my money back. And to the fraudsters out there, please stop taking other people's money. There are lots of people who save money for important stuff like weddings, education or financial security.

Though I'm sure none of them will be effected with this post, but hope some strict laws are made for such fraudsters.