Gas shortage and rise of online scams

One of the basic principles in business philosophy is that crises often open doors to new opportunities. During the COVID period, when the whole world was shut down, we saw the rapid growth of online education and online marketing. These developments completely changed the way people viewed learning and business. However, it is often fraudsters who first identify such opportunities and turn them into clever scams.

In the present situation, with conflicts in West Asia causing limits on cooking gas supply and shortages of LPG cylinders, fraudsters are exploiting the crisis. Their online scams are striking. One such example is advertisements for electric stoves that falsely claim to produce a flame like LPG stoves. At a time when cooking gas is hard to get, many people may be tempted to quickly buy such products without thinking much. Fraudsters exploit a simple fact that when people are under pressure, even basic common sense may fail. No one stops to question how an electric stove can produce a flame without LPG or natural gas.

When people book such products after watching videos on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, what they actually receive through courier is an induction cooker. An induction cooker works using magnetic energy to heat vessels and does not produce a visible flame. In the age of online marketing, people often rely on videos and descriptions instead of physically checking products. This gap is what fraudsters use. Before making any online payment, consumers should carefully assess whether the claims made in advertisements are realistic. For example, ads claiming that an Apple iPhone is available for Rs 1,000 under a special offer are common online. A little thought makes it clear that no company would sell such a product at that price.

No matter how urgent the need, consumers must decide not to fall for such scams. With the ongoing gas shortage, advertisements for various products like induction cookers, portable biogas plants, and smokeless stoves are widely circulating. Before paying in advance, it is important to ensure that the product will truly meet one’s needs. Many such ads also include positive comments from users, but creating fake comments and reviews is very easy today. Consumers should avoid believing claims that go against common sense or logic. The realisation of being cheated is often more painful than the financial loss itself. In such matters, careful judgment is more important than legal action.