Myntra defrauded of Rs 50 crore, big fraud done by taking advantage of refund system

Online shopping platform Myntra has suffered a huge loss of Rs 50 crore due to a well-planned scheme. Although the company has currently filed a fraud complaint of Rs 1.1 crore with the Bengaluru Police, according to reports, the total loss across the country is much higher. According to a report in Times of India, the fraud took place between March and June this year.

Fraudsters took advantage of Myntra’s refund system, placed large orders for expensive goods like branded shoes, clothes, cosmetics, and jewelery and then committed fraud through refunds.

How the refund system was misused

The fraudsters lodged false complaints with Myntra’s customer service after receiving the goods. In these complaints they claimed that:

1. The number of items is small, like ordering 10 pairs of shoes and being told that only 5 pairs have been received.
2. An incorrect or counterfeit product has been delivered.
3. They used to demand refund by making other excuses like discrepancy in color and size.

Myntra’s customer service usually resolves customer complaints quickly and issues refunds without much investigation. The fraudsters took advantage of this and cheated lakhs of rupees as refund from the company.

False orders and delivery to tea shops

Myntra’s internal investigation revealed that more than 5,500 fake orders were placed in Bengaluru alone. All these orders were placed from Jaipur, Rajasthan.

• Orders were placed from Jaipur, but deliveries were made to big cities like Bengaluru.
• Fraudsters chose places like tea shops, tailor shops, and grocery stores as delivery addresses so that they were difficult to detect.

This clever method made it easy to commit fraud and the company suffered a loss of crores.

Myntra police complaint

A Myntra official lodged a complaint with the Bengaluru Police, detailing how much the company suffered in Bengaluru alone. Although Myntra initially wanted to complain about the losses across the country, the police advised that the Bengaluru case be investigated first.

Now the police is busy investigating this big racket and is trying to catch the fraudsters.

Myntra’s plan to avoid fraud

After this incident, Myntra is considering tightening its refund policy. The company may soon take such steps which will:

1. More scrutiny will be done in the refund process.
2. Users requesting repeated refunds will be monitored.
3. Shipment and delivery systems will be made more secure.