Exposed: IndusInd Bank channel partner who duped people with fake Apple AirPods

The channel partner hired by the IndusInd Bank to sell credit cards have been found duping customers by luring them with free Apple AirPods which turned out to be fake On October 13 some such representatives put up a stall inside Lotus Corporate Park on Ram Mandir Road off Western Express Highway at Goregaon East and duped more than 400 customersThis reporter procured a credit card and received a pair of AirPods that had a price tag of R27000 As expected when he went to the Apple Store he was told they were not authentic A group of employees at Lotus Corporate Park had informed midday that they had purchased credit cards but the Apple AirPods which they had been gifted were spuriousAakash Rathod and the reporterOn reaching the spot this reporter saw a long queue of customers outside the stall The following is his exchange with a salesperson who represented IndusInd BankReporter What are you sellingSalesperson Aakash Rathod Sir we are selling credit cardsReporter But there are hundreds of Apple AirPods on this tableRathod These are gifts that we are giving customers if they purchase an IndusInd Bank credit cardReporter What will I gain from purchasing this credit cardRathod You will get a free movie ticket on the BookMyShow application access to airport lounges cashback on fuel and many other benefitsReporter Okay how to applyRathod You have to provide your Aadhaar card details and fill out a basic form online in our systemReporter How much time will it takeRathod It will take mostly 1015 minutes and you will get this giftThe fake Apple AirPods that were being used to entice people into buying credit cardsReporter This AirPods cost around Rs 27000 Are they originalRathod Sir they are global and more than originalReporter Do I get a warrantyRathod No sir You will not get any warranty on this product Today we sold more than 400 credit cardsThe salesperson then connected the reporter with IndusInd Bank officials for the KYC verification process and the latter applied for a credit cardApple employee weighs inThe next day this reporter visited the Apple Store in Borivli An employee told him that actual Apple boxes were different and many such fake products were flooding the markets He added that one should purchase Apple products only from legitimate stores and genuine platformsAakash Rathod the salesperson who spoke to middayVictims speak outmidday also met many victims One who works in a shoe store at Lotus Corporate Park said ldquoWhen I was going home after work I saw a long queue When I checked it out I saw a table on which there were scores of Apple AirPods After waiting in the queue for an hour I applied for a credit card and received the gift I immediately took it to the Apple Store and they told me that its fakerdquo Another victim who also works in the area said ldquoThey are cheating customers by luring them with fake Apple AirPods I am very upset about thisrdquo Yet another said ldquoI also received fake AirPods The bank should take responsibility and give us the gift that was promisedrdquoApology callOn Monday Rathod called this reporter and apologised for his actions promising that he would never repeat his mistake Asked from where he had purchased the fake earbuds Rathod replied that he had not gotten in touch with Apple and would never resort to such tactics again to sell credit cards midday informed IndusInd Bank officials about the Incident and the latter said they were conducting an inquiry into the matter Bank saysIndusInd Bank is committed to highest standards of professionalism integrity ethics and moral conduct in the best interest of its stakeholders The bank has zero tolerance against any unethical conduct and ensures necessary course of action in case of any divergence For a recent instance as mentioned in query the bank has reached out to the channel partner and is gathering more details of the incident The bank would like to emphasise that our customers remain at the heart of our operations and their trust is paramount Any deviation from ethical practices shall not be tolerated as we strive to provide a secure and trustworthy banking environment