25 Thousand iPhone 14 Pro Max: Such Fraud Is Behind Tiktok Ads Last year it was Dashain Taka. 19-year-old Bipana Lama (name changed), studying in class 12, saw an advertisement for the iPhone 14 Pro Max on TikTok. He had an old phone with a broken display. She was in the mood to buy a good phone worth 25,000 to 30,000. At that time, she was shocked to see that the iPhone 14 Pro Max was also available at 25,000.
As she had classes in the morning, she worked in a cafe in the afternoon to earn her living expenses. There was a monthly salary of 11,000. She spent three months cutting her expenses and collected 25 thousand rupees.
At first glance, he doubted that such a good-looking phone could be found for 25,000. “It is possible that they sold it to someone in an emergency or that the shop tried to repair it and sell it cheaply”, his heart raised hope.
Keeping her hopes alive for some time, she tried to check how genuine the Tiktok ID was. Then she looked at the timeline of the account. Most of the advertisement videos were uploaded on the topic of selling cheap iPhones.
Even if it was a little bit, that video made him believe in that TikTok account. “When I watched Tiktok’s video, I saw that other iPhones were also being sold,” says Lama, “There were comments like the phone is good. I thought yes.”
Then she tried to contact the number given in the bio, but the phone was switched off. She immediately sent a message to the WhatsApp account of that number. A message came immediately on WhatsApp.
“Which phone do you want?”, Lama received a message.
“iPhone 14 Pro Max with 256GB storage,” Lama said while sending a video downloaded from the TikTok account.
Lama asked if they had a physical store. Mentioning the name of a place in Ilam, the person said that he would deliver directly from the shop through a courier. By this time, Lama was confident of getting the phone.
The amount should have been sent to the eSeva account mentioned by the person. Lama did not have an eSeva account. So she collected 25,000 and went to a nearby shop. And, she requested the shopkeeper to send the amount to the said account.
His close relatives suggested filing a complaint at the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office. She went to file a complaint with evidence the next day. She paid 500 rupees to write an application, and she took the same application and registered it in the office. “We will call you soon. Or, you can call our office number to find out what happened,” said Lama, quoting an officer of the complaint wing. However, almost a year after filing the complaint, he did not get a call from the office, nor did he receive a call from the number he noted down.
“My 25,000 has sunk, sunk. The 500,000 that I asked to write a petition while filing a complaint has also sunk,” Lama said in frustration. Then, while running Tiktok, Lama saw the same video uploaded from another account. She goes on to say, “Whoever downloads the video from where and fills it with Nepali music and says it is for sale. The first video I saw is now on TikTok.
Chances of being cheated during Dashain are even higher
Lama is only a representative character among those who are cheated in this way. It seems that the gang is active in selling cheap iPhones. If you search for any query about buying an iPhone on TikTok, you will find all the videos that are kept for advertisement.
Also, many advertisements are selling iPhone 11, 12, 13 and 14 series phones for Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000 as a Dashain offer. Buyers think that it is natural to get the phone at such a price when they make excuses such as low battery health, a slight problem with the display, or a slight problem with one of the three cameras. And, they trust and pay the amount.
He suggested understanding the reliability of the goods before purchasing them online and giving the money only after receiving the order. He goes on to say, “There are those who send the money in advance saying that they got it cheap. In this case, it is better to pay the money only after receiving the goods.
More followers and likes on social media do not mean that person is official. And, the comments are also made from fake accounts. Therefore, Superintendent of Police Bogti warned to avoid such accounts.
