Click, Pay and Get Cheated: How Amazon India’s Fake Seller Network Is Looting Innocent Consumers

When billion-dollar platforms turn a blind eye, the burden of honesty falls on the helpless customer.

A Shocking Case That Mirrors a Nationwide Scam

In a country that dreams digital, the new battlefield for corruption has shifted from government offices to glossy e-commerce apps. What used to be bribe and file has now turned into “click and con” – and nowhere is this more visible than on Amazon India.

Take the recent case of a customer who purchased a Mastyle Bohemian Ethnic Belt for Men from a seller named Apni Digital Dukan ( on 16 November 2025. The order, number 403-5658823-8824363, was fully paid online – because Cash on Delivery wasn’t available.

At first glance, nothing seemed suspicious. The delivery window read 3 – 5 December 2025, a typical delay that customers tolerate. But hidden behind that casual date range was a sinister algorithm of deceit.

The Seller’s Modus Operandi: A Masterclass in Digital Deception

1. The Delayed-Delivery Trap:
   By setting a far-off arrival date, the seller ensures that the customer’s vigilance is diluted.
2. The Phantom Delivery:
   On 2 December 2025, before the promised window even began, the order was suddenly marked “Delivered.” No package ever reached the buyer. This tactic cleverly buys the seller time while the automated Amazon system assumes completion.
3. The Counter-Attack:
   Once the fraud is detected, the seller dispatches a fake parcel – in this case, a package labeled SKU 3351 – Belt – Qty 1, which reached the buyer on 6 December 2025. Inside? Not a belt. Not even close. A 4XL Made-in-China men’s underwear – neatly folded, sealed, and ready to humiliate.
4. The Algorithmic Wall:
   When the buyer rushed to report the fraud, he encountered an automated labyrinth. Amazon’s so-called “customer care” provides no human contact, only robotic options: “Return item,” “Track return,” and “Wait for refund.” The system designed to assist now isolates – silencing the consumer behind cheerful emojis and templated apologies.

The Pattern Repeats

A similar episode is now unfolding for another order – CALANDIS Equestrian Helmet Unisex Horse Riding, sold by Elyssion Designs under order number 403-5783249-0997946, placed on 23 November 2025 for ₹ 4,725.

Here too, the script reads the same:

“Expected delivery 11 Dec 2025.”
“Blue Dart is having trouble delivering your package…” – updated on 6 Dec.

Soon it will likely show “Delivered,” followed by a random package, a token return, and then digital oblivion. Even the courier agencies – wittingly or not – seem to play along in this digital circus of deceit.

How the System Enables the Scam

• No Physical Point of Contact:
  Amazon India operates an almost hermetically sealed complaint mechanism. Consumers can’t reach a person; only an algorithm.
• Delayed Detection Loophole:
  By back-dating or forward-dating “delivery,” sellers manipulate refund windows while automated systems record successful transactions.
• Escrow Without Enforcement:
  Payments to sellers are often released automatically once delivery status flips to delivered, even if proof is nonexistent.
• Regulatory Vacuum:
  There is still no dedicated Indian e-commerce consumer tribunal that can fast-track such grievances. Consumer courts are overloaded, and foreign platforms enjoy opaque immunity.

When Corruption Wears a Digital Mask

We often associate corruption with bureaucrats and tender mafias. But this is algorithmic corruption – coded, timed, and profit-optimized.
A belt that becomes underwear; a helmet that might never arrive. And behind it all, a trillion-dollar corporation shrugging responsibility, citing “independent sellers.”

The rot is deeper: when digital giants knowingly host fraudulent sellers, they become enablers, not platforms.

The Bigger Picture: India’s E-Commerce Crisis

According to a 2024 study by LocalCircles, nearly 38 % of Indian online shoppers have faced fake or defective deliveries. Yet refund or redressal success rates remain below 20 %. The reason? Lack of statutory oversight, absence of localized grievance cells, and over-reliance on self-regulation by the platforms themselves.

If a marketplace as vast as Amazon cannot vet its sellers or monitor false “delivery” updates, who protects the consumer?

The Psychological Cost

It’s not only about losing ₹ 1,634 or ₹ 4,725. It’s about losing trust in the digital economy – a betrayal that seeps deeper than any defective product. When even honest buyers begin to fear clicking Buy Now, the dream of a “Digital India” becomes a farce.

What the Authorities Must Do

1. Mandate Video-Logged Delivery Proofs for all high-risk categories.
2. Hold E-Commerce Giants Liable for fraudulent sellers hosted on their platforms.
3. Establish an Online Consumer Tribunal with 30-day turnaround mandates.
4. Integrate Courier Accountability – Blue Dart, Delhivery, and others must share tamper-proof proof-of-delivery logs.
5. Name-and-Shame Fraudulent Sellers in a national e-commerce blacklist, updated weekly.

A Call for Corporate Conscience

Amazon built its empire on the promise of customer obsession. But in India, that promise is fading into algorithmic apathy. When global corporations exploit regulatory softness to let fake sellers flourish, they betray both the consumer and the nation’s faith in digital progress.

It’s time for Amazon India, the Department of Consumer Affairs, and IT Ministry to act – not with chatbots, but with accountability.

The Consumer’s Voice Must Rise

This article is not just about one belt or one helmet. It’s about every honest Indian who believed that digital platforms would empower them – not exploit them.

It’s a call to the government, to the regulators, and to the conscience of every company that profits from the Indian middle class:

Stop this digital daylight robbery before trust itself becomes the next counterfeit.