Fake Instagram shops: Delhi Police bust a network linked to ₹30 crore
What happened: In October 2026, Delhi Police said they had arrested seven people linked to a fake online shopping network that handled transactions worth over ₹30 crore. Police linked 27 complaints from different states to it.
The case started with a Delhi University student. She saw a kurti advertised on an Instagram page, was sent to a WhatsApp number to order it for ₹799, and paid ₹400 in advance by QR code. Then came a “delivery” call asking for a passcode, and repeated demands to pay to “generate the code” or for a “refundable charge”. She paid five more times, losing ₹6,450. No parcel and no refund ever came.
Police say the accused set up firms and about 25 bank accounts in fictitious names to move the money, and supplied them to other members of the gang for monthly payments.
Why it matters for you: Small Instagram and Facebook “shops” are everywhere, and many are real. The fake ones follow a pattern: a cheap price, an order on WhatsApp, an advance by QR code, then one “small extra charge” after another.
What to do:
- Prefer cash on delivery or a marketplace with buyer protection when buying from a small social media shop.
- If a seller asks you to pay again to “release”, “generate a code” for or “refund” an order, stop. That’s the scam.
- Check the page’s age, real customer photos and comments before paying. New pages with lots of perfect reviews are a warning sign.
- If you’ve been cheated, call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in quickly.
Read more: Fake shopping sites and sale links.