Jun 22, 2009 12:18 PM
7844 Views
Very recently, I experienced a new type of fraud. I was not the victim but my friend was. She had bought a mobile an year ago whose warranty period had recently expired. The mobile had recharging problem. After trying for a day or two, she gave it to a local shop for repair. She did not take any receipt (a big mistake which lot of us do with the local shops).
After sending her away twice on pretext that he has not yet received the mobile from service center, the mobile was finally given back after 1.5 days. After a week of receiving the mobile, she receives a call from police that the mobile is a stolen one and she needs to come to police station with bill and box. She was surprised but since she had the bill with her, so she went there confidently. When the IMEI number (International Mobile Equipment Identity - commonly know as Mobile Handset Identification Number) on bill and mobile were matched, they were found to be different.
I need not tell you how shocked she was. She tried to tell the police again and again what had recently happened but they did not budge a little or even bother to contact the local shop for confirmation. They only said, do you have any proof? The complaint was lodged by an Auto driver stating that he has lost his mobile and 5 thousand rupees. Now to close the case, police asked for the mobile and 15 thousand rupees. You all are smart. I need not explain what actually must have happened and who actually are the culprits. She trusted the shop keeper and paid a heavy price to avoid hassels later on. She, being a girl had to seal the case as auto driver had warned of sending women police at her home. Reputation is the most prized possession. So she had to act accordingly as she did not get any help from the police. Finally yesterday, the case was closed after giving up the mobile and 10 thousand rupees.
Why am I sharing this story? Because, This can happen with anyone. We tend to trust and some of us with bad luck prevailing on us, get in a mess. So I wanted to share this story with you all with an intention of warning you of possible side effects of trust. Problems never knock the door to enter. They have a seperate gateway.
What we can do as precaution - (1) When buying a handset, always cross-check the IMEI number written on the bill. (2) Keep bills in a file safely untill you discard the mobile completely. (3) Try to give your handset for repair to authorised service center only. In any case (authorised center or local shop), ask them to mention IMEI number on receipt. On receiving it back, cross check the handset and IMEI number. (4) Whenever you loose your mobile, Always make it a point to lodge a written complaint. That way, whether you get your mobile back or not, you are not responsible if it is misused. (5) Any other things that we should remember? Please do add. Remember - Precaution is better than cure. I have learnt a very valuable lesson from this incident. Have you?
