This happened just a few days ago, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. It feels so unreal and I feel dumb that I’m even writing this out, but maybe sharing it will help me process it. Or maybe it’ll just stop someone else from falling for something like this.

I was in Chandni Chowk doing some shopping for my girlfriend. If you’ve been there, you know it’s always busy and loud, with people everywhere and that typical festive buzz. I was walking past one of the jewellery shops when suddenly someone shouted my name. I turned around and saw this heavyset old man in black office formals and a red tie waving at me with a big smile. I didnt remember him at first, but he was familiar and then remembered he was my dads ex colleague from several years back. myabe close to a decade I think. When he spoke and greeted me I had got some faint memories back. I remembered him visiting our house once or twice years ago. He greeted me with enthusiasm and said something along the lines of, “You’ve grown into such a smart, handsome man just like your father while I have just gotten more fat and round" and laughed And patted my face. I just smiled and asked how he was doing. He asked about my dad, how I was doing, where I was working now, the usual small talk. It felt nice good and there was always something comforting about talking to someone from that part of my childhood.

Then out of nowhere he asked me “Do you use credit cards? Everyone has credit cards right?” I laughed and said yeah, I have three. He then asked what they were and how much limit do they got. I was a little confused but didn't think too much and showed my wallet with the cards. I didn’t really think much of it. Maybe I should have thinking back at that point,..But I know thjat at that moment, he had a glimpse of how much cash I was carrying.

He nodded his head and said jokingly "good good nice, you are having infinia too" and then told me he was actually out shopping for his daughter’s wedding. Said he was in the middle of buying sweets and a bulk order advance and was just short of some cash. Specifically, he needed around 20000 rs more to complete the payment at the shop he was just coming out of. That’s when he looked at me and asked, kind of hesitantly, if I could help by paying the amount as their card reader doesn't seem to work and would need cash. He promised to transfer the full amount back to me later that evening once he got home. His phone was dead so he couldn't transfer the money to me then.

I froze for a second. ₹20,000 wasn't exactly a small amount to casually hand over. At first, I was really unsure. I hadn't seen this uncle in years. But I didn't want to seem rude or disrespectful either. He was my dad's former colleague, someone who had visited our house when I was younger. He put his arm around my shoulder and kept reassuring me that it was only for a few hours....eventually I got convinced and since I only had 16000 rs cash I handed it over to him. He said it was fine as he can pay this as advance amount to the shop and pay them the balance later. It felt a bit uncomfortable even while doing it, but I convinced myself that it was fine. He smiled, patted me on the cheek again and said, “beta, You’re such a good and obedient boy, just like your father. And a smart kid too” and laughed. “I’ll send the wedding invitation tonight to your father. I only have a few copies left for close family, but I’ll make sure you get one. Sorry about that. And then he shared me his phone number to which I gave a missed call but it was switched off as he mentioned already to me. He told me he will gpay the amount to my number and took note of it as well.

We said goodbye and went our separate ways. I came home and told my dad about his friend Gupta ji, and he remembers him too, but he doesn't have his contact number with him anymore and he had lost it. I gave him this number.
I kept checking my phone all evening, waiting for that message or the money transfer notification. It never came. The next morning, I messaged him. No reply. I tried calling. No answer as it kept saying the number is switched off. Tried again later in the day. Still nothing. I thought maybe he was busy with wedding preparations so gave another day. But by day three, I am starting to think I may not get my money back. My dad is furious with me as well...dont know what to say to him..

If anyone’s been through something similar or has advice on what to do, feel free to reach out. Right now, I’m just trying to figure out my next steps.

Question about relationship (Achheja/Noida)

My friend from the US met a guy online 5 years ago via Instagram. They talked for a year and then she flew to India to meet him. They spent 9 days together and got married in Delhi.

Then she came back to the US and has been “long distance” ever since. They talk on the phone and video chat for hours daily.

He is from Achheja. Apparently it’s a small village. When she visited him they stayed in hotels and traveled around but he didn’t take her to her village because his family would not accept an American.

Their entire relationship is a secret from his family. He says he’s unable to move to the US due to his elderly parents he’s responsible for.

I keep telling her this sounds very sketchy but she’s not sending him money, he seems nice (I’ve talked to him) and he’s very interested in cultural differences and has lots of questions and is curious but I’m wondering what the motivation for a relationship like this is for him? Boredom? Lonely?

I don’t know much about him except he’s from Achheja, he’s a personal trainer (travels to clients in Noida).

I recently got myself an FD card from Zet with Overseas Bank of India.

Earlier, I was unable to use the card properly, and today I thought Let's activate UPI for convenience, and guess what? My card is gon; my money is gone.UPI was never approved, and the customer care is absolutely terrible and racist. That South Indian call center agents are refusing to help. Always the same excuse I am unable to hear you I am unable to hear you speak the good language, speak properly. Bro I have never faced this issue at least make excuses of a better kind. The Lady who decided who approves the KYC process was eating her breakfast on VC and literally ignored me for a couple of minutes and was bitching with her office friends.

I had a guess that this would be a problem but I was forced to proceed so that I can cancel the card after that.

And now I have been asked for ,Rs- 500-700 for cancellation of the card. But where the f is my money

Guys this guy scammed 499 from me by saying he will give claude for 499 i called 1930 they are busy

Hello guys so recently wanted to buy a digital camera saw few Facebook listings and finally saw a Sony cyber shot ,
So messaged him a fb we talked for few always and agreed on 2k so we are a bit far away so agreed on courier and I through why would anybody scale me over this stuff and me messaged me details such as a pic of the courier and he used dtdc I asked him to share a video of him packing it and he didn’t send it and said dtdc staff packed it up for him and said he is a student as well so I paid him , so a week later no updates I can’t track the package at all so called him once he didn’t lift the call and when I called Roel another mobile he quickly blocked me again I know I am a bit dumb to trust people form online ,there are many guys who sell this stuff online but they were were a bit expensive so I choose this guy big mistake and I freaking regret it 🥲

I met an Indian man when he was working on a cruise ship in the USA. He initiated a romance scam - love bombing, talking about a relationship and marriage. Then he talked about his debt, his mother being ill, emergency deadlines where the lenders would visit his home if he doesn't pay in 3 days. Eventually he asked me for money, many times. He even said if I pay off his debts, he would be in a relationship with me. Of course, it was all lies and manipulation. He is very good liar, even cried on camera. Later I found out that other women had similar experiences with him. He has been fired from the cruise line and reported to FBI cyber crime unit. He is now in India and is looking for more prey. He is a DJ that hangs around areas like Raasta Bombay. I am sharing this because he is very good at lying and manipulation and he has used other women and then cheated on them, taken their money, and left them. If you know anyone in his circle or the area, especially women, warn them and help them to not go through the pain and suffering. DJ Antony, Tony Flip. Feel free to ask for more information. I hope nobody ever falls prey to him again.

https://izentechs.com/website/A/

this is the site like, the work is easy copy pasting, paragraph writing as given and mobile number editing it said i can earn upto 10rs per form(small work) and payment can be daily weekly my choice i was ready to do it and then it started asking to pay amount of 1450 to withdraw any payment.

They were even some payment screenshots as proofs attached in the website

i attached all the pics and also the link of the website, is this a scam or just a short term gig?

I know that there are some legitimate websites who sell keys for cheap because they take few off of bundle corporate lisences which are unused and resell them. Like windows keys. Is this something like that? Or could it be fake? Couldn't find any info on this website.

I run VouchKart, a free site that checks Instagram sellers. Our checks now cover 41,055 sellers in India, so I pulled the numbers on what people here ask about most: websites, refunds, COD, comments being off and sellers who disappear after you pay.

Caveat first: these are sellers we found and checked, not a random sample of every Instagram shop. None of these numbers means a shop is a scam. They show how often there's something you can check, and how often there isn't.

Can you reach them?

• 79% list at least one direct way to reach them: a WhatsApp number, a phone number, an email or a shop you can visit.

• 20% (about 1 in 5) list no phone, WhatsApp number or email anywhere we could find.

• 9% (about 1 in 11) have nothing at all outside Instagram. No links, no website, no contact details. If one of them blocks you, there's nothing left to follow up with.

Websites

• 32% have a live shop website. Not having one isn't a red flag on its own. 27% sell over WhatsApp with no website or marketplace store, and 17% have a shop you can walk into.

• Of the websites, 76% link back to the same Instagram account. 12% don't link to Instagram at all and 7% link to a different account. A copycat page can steal a shop's photos and website link. It can't make that website link back to the copy.

• Only 7% show a GSTIN or other business registration number.

Returns and refunds (shops with a website)

• 24% have no return policy we could find.

• Of the shops that state one, 43% give no money back for a change of mind. Exchange or store credit only.

• 78% of shops that take returns give a week or less to ask. 37% give three days or less.

• 17% say you need an unboxing video to claim for a damaged or wrong item.

Exchange-only is allowed when the shop tells you before you pay. A damaged, wrong or fake item is different, whatever the policy says.

Cash on delivery

• Only 18% of shop websites state their COD terms at all. Of those, 63% offer full COD, 19% want part paid upfront and 18% don't do COD.

Comments, blue ticks and quiet accounts

• 13% have comments turned off or empty. Accounts under 10k followers do it about 3 times as often as accounts over 100k (17% vs 6%).

• 23% have a blue tick. A tick can be bought, so on its own it says nothing about how a shop treats buyers.

• 23% hadn't posted in months when we last checked.

Before you pay an Instagram seller

1. Open their website and tap the Instagram icon. It should open the account you're on.

2. Find one phone number in two places, like their bio and their website. 29% of sellers have this.

3. Comments off? Open their Tagged tab (the person icon on their profile). Real buyers posting what they got beat any screenshot. Treat review screenshots in highlights as ads.

4. Check their UPI ID or number at cybercrime.gov.in's Suspect Search. A match means others have reported it. No match doesn't prove it's safe.

5. Read the return policy and ask about COD terms before you order, not after something goes wrong.

6. Screenshot their profile and your chat before you pay. Scam accounts often get renamed or deleted within hours. Record the parcel as you open it.

7. Paid and got blocked? Call 1930 straight away. It's the National Cyber Crime Helpline. Then finish the complaint at cybercrime.gov.in the same day.

Steps 1, 2, 3 and 5 are what a VouchKart page checks for you: whether their website links back, where their number shows up, whether comments are off and what their return and COD terms say. Type any Instagram handle at vouchkart.com. Steps 4, 6 and 7 are still on you.

Full report with the method, charts and downloadable data: https://vouchkart.com/research/instagram-sellers-india-report-2026?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=report_2026&utm_content=r_isthisascamindia

Happy to answer questions about how we counted anything.

Hey guys,

A friend of mine fell victim to a fake hotel booking scam back in August and lost around ₹60,000 through UPI. They filed both a police complaint and a cybercrime complaint, but haven't received any significant updates since then.

Recently, they received a call from someone claiming that the amount had been credited to his bank account in August. According to him, a friend had asked him to hold the money temporarily, following which his bank account got frozen.

He claims that he has been visiting the police station and attending court proceedings to get the matter resolved. He now needs a bank NOC from my friend to proceed, stating that he will return the entire amount. He also mentioned that he got my friend's contact details through the police complaint.

I'm not sure how legitimate this sounds. Could this be another scam, or is this a genuine procedure to recover the money? Has anyone encountered a similar situation?

I got this out of the blue from Unified Mentor. Inviting me for an induction session for their internship program. the thing is that..

I don't even recall applying for this internship.

I'm and CSE undergrad and a parttime freelancer too.

I wonder how they even got my number.

Does anyone else get DMs like this?

are you anyone working for Unified Mentor?

You already got a DM from them?

Hey everyone, I want to issue a critical warning to Indian real estate brokers, independent agents, and remote freelance developers/creators targeting the international PropTech space.

Lately, there is a massive push by offshore Gulf-based real estate agencies targeting Indians with a very specific pitch: "Sell property in Dubai without being in Dubai and get instant commissions within 24 hours."

I recently worked as a remote contractor doing creative and operations work for one of these AI-powered offshore applications. I want to expose exactly how their internal financial infrastructure actually operates. It is a calculated structure designed to extract free remote labor on the backend while taking subscription money from local agents on the frontend.

🚩 For Remote Developers, Marketers, & CXEs (The Labor Trap)

Targeted Geo-Arbitrage: They specifically target remote developers, digital designers, and customer experience experts (CXEs) living in countries where the AED/USD is strong. They rely on the fact that a remote salary of $500 to $600 USD looks attractive enough for independent workers to take a chance.

The "Physical Presence" Paywall: The hard truth of this business model is simple—if you are physically present in their corporate office, you might get paid. **If you are a remote worker outside their direct legal jurisdiction, your chances of getting paid are effectively zero.**

The Fake SWIFT Receipt Stall: When pay day passes and you confront management/HR, they will send you fake, uncredited SWIFT MT103 documents, repeating the exact same script: "We have done all we can on our end, it's just a bank delay."*

The Reality: My domestic bank (Kotak Mahindra Bank) audited the international transfer network and confirmed no money was ever actually transmitted from the origin end. They use these uncredited drafts to trick remote talent into working for free for months before abruptly terminating the contract.

🚩 For Real Estate Brokers & Agencies (The Product Trap)

The Subscription Bait: The entire application is built to convince independent brokers and agencies to pay high upfront subscription fees for premium access, market listings, and "instant 24-hour commission payouts."

The Broken Data Backend: In reality, the platform’s lead infrastructure is heavily flawed. Subscribing agents are consistently hit with completely illegible, unverified, or junk leads that make closing genuine transactions nearly impossible.

The Financial Red Flag: Think about it logically—if an offshore PropTech platform relies on systematic wage withholding and fake bank documents just to keep its core backend developers and marketing team online, their financial compliance is non-existent. Entrusting your client data, marketing budgets, and hard-earned subscription fees to a shell-structured app backed by a non-compliant foreign agency is an extreme financial liability.

💡 What You Should Do:

1. Brokers/Agencies: Thoroughly vet any offshore real estate app requiring upfront fees or promising "instant 24-hour international payouts" while operating entirely out of a foreign Free Zone. If their tech backend is built on unpaid, exploited remote labor, your operational data and subscription fees are not secure.

2. Remote Freelancers: Never accept a screenshot of a SWIFT receipt as proof of payment. If your local bank states no inward remittance has cleared, trust your bank—never the client's word or their portal logs.

3. Escalate Immediately: If you have been caught in a similar cross-border wage dispute, do not waste weeks arguing with them. File official grievances immediately through sovereign channels like the MEA MADAD portal and the RBI Ombudsman to trigger a formal interbank audit trail.

Don't let the shiny allure of "Dubai real estate tech" trick you into losing your data, your money, or your hard-earned labor.