Borivali West Man Duped of Rs 9 Lakh in Fake Amazon Franchise Scam

A Borivali West resident, Sunil Jagtiani, was allegedly cheated of Rs 9,03,048 after applying for a fake Amazon franchise advertised on Facebook. The victim subsequently lodged an online cybercrime complaint after the operators refused to issue payment receipts for the money he transferred.

The incident began when Jagtiani came across an online advertisement on Facebook promoting Amazon franchise opportunities. After he expressed interest, two men who identified themselves as Vinay and Pankaj reached out to him. The callers outlined the operational details of the franchise process and promised to provide complete setup support, including necessary technology, delivery staff, and operational guidance.

Believing the proposal to be genuine, Jagtiani initially paid a registration fee of Rs 15,500. As part of the registration procedure, he shared several personal and identification documents with the accused, including his Aadhaar card, PAN card, educational certificate, and a personal photograph.

To further convince Jagtiani that the offer was authentic, the accused dispatched paperwork to him claiming to be an official agreement and a trade licence. Relying on these documents, Jagtiani continued to fulfill further financial demands made by the callers.

Between June 26 and July 16, 2026, the accused repeatedly extracted funds from Jagtiani under a wide range of pretexts. These included charges for insurance premiums, bank account opening, no-objection certificates (NOC), server maintenance, Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) payments, and visiting charges.

During each transaction, the fraudsters falsely assured Jagtiani that the payment being requested would be the final one required before operations commenced. In total, Jagtiani transferred Rs 9,03,048 to the fraudsters.

The scam came to light when Jagtiani asked for payment receipts to document the financial transfers he had made. After being denied payment receipts by the accused, he realized that he had been defrauded and subsequently lodged an official cybercrime complaint online.