KOCHI: Beware if a salesman at your doorstep offers Rs 5000 for an attractive home appliance. He may even offer payment in instalments. Recently, many people in the city have had the terrible experience of being lured by an imposter who cheated them of Rs 5 lakh. The money was taken promising electronic goods at a discounted price or payment in instalments.According to police, a Tamil Nadu resident Senram had been taking orders from the residents of Elamakkara for the last one year. “He had promised to provide LCD colour TV, refrigerator, air conditioner and music system with a discount of around Rs 5000. He had taken order from about 100 people and fled with the money. Only after several weeks, the residents came to know that they were cheated and lodged a complaint,” a police official said.Kochi City Special Branch officials said that such cases are increasing these days. “There are several people from other states, like Tamil Nadu and Andra Pradesh, who are engaged in door-to-door selling. In most cases, the people get cheated and the seller flees away with the money. We are tracking these people so that more people won’t get cheated,” the officials said.Their strategy is to supply goods initially to win the confidence of other residents and once the number of booking increases, they run away with the money, an official said. Police officials said that people should act wisely while dealing with such fraudsters. “People should not encourage such kind of marketing. These fraudsters target women from the families that not financially good. These women, who cannot afford the products from regular dealers, get attracted to instalment payment schemes. There are also chances of robbery by inviting these people into homes,” the police official said.
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