Guy's Python Code Seems To Show Flipkart's Big Billion Day A Con

Talk of the town, Flipkart's Big Billion Day hosted on 6th Oct '14, which was expected to be a huge success, has instead brought Flipkart into quite some trouble.

The e-commerce company is now under scrutiny as people claim to have been cheated.

Recently, a fellow programmer Nikhil Venkat Sonti, posted on Quora about his experience regarding the same.

Apparently, he had written a Python script which you can find on github that parsed Flipkart’s page every 5 seconds to check whether any new product had arrived in Steal Deal section.

Using the 'say' command, he had programmed his script to say Ring Ring Ring to notify him about it. Also, the code mailed him about the products along-with some details. Surprisingly, the most tempting deals, the ones with unbelievable discounts were already in the Sold Out state.

This means that either the product got sold out within the span of five seconds or that it was posted so in the first place.

Here are a couple of sample mails that Nikhil added in his answer.

Mail-1:

---

from: X@somemail.com 

to: Y@somemail.com 

date: Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 6:11 PM 

subject: Simmtronics Xpad X802 Tablet 

Simmtronics Xpad X802 Tablet 

Offer: Sold OutFlat at Rs 99 

http://www.flipkart.com/simmtron....

---

Mail-2:

---

from: X@somemail.com 

to: Y@somemail.com 

date: Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 6:11 PM 

subject: HGST Touro Mobile 2.5 inch 1 TB External Hard Disk 

HGST Touro Mobile 2.5 inch 1 TB External Hard Disk 

Offer: Sold OutFlat 90% Off 

http://www.flipkart.com/hgst-tou....

However, many have sided with Flipkart, citing that they did avail a few great deals like 16 GB pendrive at just Re.1 and a Rs.13000 camera at Rs.1300.

Microsoft Warns Of Fake Job Offers

Phishing, the act of attempting to acquire information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and sometimes, indirectly, money) by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication, is not a new trend. Only now Microsoft has also joined the list of those trustworthy entities whose name is being used by scammers.

Microsoft has perhaps recently received many queries regarding these fake job offer mails due to which they are warning everyone of it. Following is the message I received from them in my Microsoft account.

---

Recruitment Fraud Awareness

April 9, 2014 -

We want to make you aware of some incidents whereby certain organizations or individuals, claiming to act on behalf of Microsoft India’s companies have contacted potential job seekers or candidates and made false offers or promises of employment with Microsoft India companies. These false offers or promises of employment can also involve requests to the potential job seekers or candidates for payment of money against ‘fees’ on account of placement fee, application fee, caution deposit, etc.

Please note that Microsoft (including any authorized agencies or firms that conduct recruitment on its behalf) do not, under any circumstances, require money or payment from applicants during the recruitment process. Any such false job or employment related communications, whether requiring payment of money or not, that appear to originate from Microsoft are unauthorized and fraudulent in nature. These could originate from fictitious or misleading email addresses, websites, portals or online social or professional networking sites. Such false or fraudulent communications may also be printed on forged Microsoft letterheads and stationery, refer to Microsoft’s office address or be copied to a Microsoft email id. You are advised not to respond to such fraudulent and unauthorized communications or offers from such persons. You are also advised to notify any such incidents to Microsoft at recfra@microsoft.com. If you are the victim of such fraudulent offers or promises of employment, please report it and file a complaint with the relevant police authorities. Microsoft will provide all reasonable cooperation, as required by you or the police authorities, in pursuance of your complaint

---

Kindly be aware of any such mail, be it from Microsoft or any other company. No company would ask you to submit money for any reason. 

You can recognize a spam mail by certain obvious aspects. You can read Fake Hyundai Job Call Letter to get an idea.

Do not even provide personal information as your response could be used for identity theft as in the following examples.

Fake 'Abba Queens Hotel' Job Offer Mail

Fake Audi Promo Program

People claiming to make you millionaire

Also, if you're on Twitter, you might want to read this, Don't Fall For Phishing On Twitter.

Beware of Identity Theft: People claiming to make you millionaire

A friend of mine received this Phishing mail from a woman claiming to be an employee at Reserve Bank of India, asking her to be an accomplice in distributing more than 5 crores INR among them of an unclaimed bank account. You can read the whole mail yourself,

• 
  
• Even though it is a spam mail, here's why quite a few people could fall for it:
• The link mentioned, http://www.financialexpress.com/news/find-whereabouts-of-unclaimed-deposit-holders-rbi-tells-banks/909041 actually redirects to an article 'Find whereabouts of unclaimed deposit holders: RBI tells banks' on Financial Express and another link, http://www.korat-info.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18%20&%20t=1496#p6452 too leads to an actual plane crash news, in which according to the mail, the unclaimed account holder has died with his family. But, there is still no specific proof though.

Then again, here's why it is a spam:

• The mail has been sent via http://www.ciudad.com.ar/ . It is a Spanish website which is also a free e-mail provider.

• The mail doesn't address by a specific name, instead it says, 'dear friend', which means it is generalized mail sent to many.

As I've suggested in my previous blogs as well, that in case you receive such a mail,

• Do not reply, as your response will be used for identity theft.

• Do mark it as spam so that you don't receive any further mails from the spammers.

• One more thing I'd strongly suggest is that don't add your e-mail id to random websites as once it gets public, you become the target of spammers.

The purpose of this Phishing mail is identity theft but there are also a few which would try to gain money from you as in the case of, Fake Hyundai Job Call Letter and Fake Microsoft Job Offer Letter.

Also, take a look at a similar mail, Fake 'Abba Queens Hotel' Job Offer Mail and Fake Audi Promo Program.

And, if you're on Twitter, you might want to read this, Don't Fall For Phishing On Twitter.

Beware: Fake 'Abba Queens Hotel' Job Offer Mail

A few days back, I received the following mail:

Please kindly read this letter on attachment file.

Abba Queen's Gate Hotel is recruiting interested candidate who wish to work in our Company. submit your curriculum vitae CV" to our recruitment department Via Email, These are the list of Countries needed for the Career job offered by the Company. AFRICA REGION: Cameroon, Kenya, South Africa & Sudan. ASIA REGION: India. Indonesia & Philippine. EUROPE REGION: Germany, Spain & France. SOUTH AMERICA REGION: Chile & Argentina.

along with the following attachment:

Here's why it is an obvious scam:

1. The mail has been sent via rediffmail.com and has been asked to respond to some careceo.com. Now, a 4 star hotel at London would never use a free e-mail id.

2.The letter does not address me by my name. Therefore it's a generalized mass email sent by spammers to hundreds of people hoping that a few would fall in trap.

3.The +44 87 phone number is not a land line - it`s a cell phone or a redirect service.

4. Note that the English is very poor and is not written by someone who's primary language is English.

5. It is impractical to believe of a UK based hotel sending job invitations to non-UK people and claiming that they'll take care of all expenses. This only lures people of developing or underdeveloped countries.

6. The payment listed is quite overwhelming. 

In case, you receive any such similar e-mail,

1. The best thing to do is first google about it like 'Abba Queens Hotel scam'.

2. Obviously, the above points should also be observed.

3. Do not reply, as your response might be used for identity theft.

4. Do mark it as spam so that you don't receive any further mails from the spammers.

When I googled about this spam, I found some results dating back to early 2010 as well. The fact that this letter is still circulating, it is certain that there are people still falling for it. 

You should be more alert of such spam mails if you hold an account on any job site like naukri.com. 

The purpose of this Phishing mail is identity theft but there are also a few which would try to gain money from you as in the case of, Fake Hyundai Job Call Letter and Fake Microsoft Job Offer Letter.

Also, take a look at a similar mail, Fake Audi Promo Program and People claiming to make you millionaire

And, if you're on Twitter, you might want to read this, Don't Fall For Phishing On Twitter.

Preventing Phishing: Beware of Fake Hyundai Job Call Letter

Phishing is the act of attempting to acquire information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and sometimes, indirectly, money) by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication(via Wikipedia). Phishing, also referred to as brand spoofing or carding, is a variation on fishing, the idea being that bait is thrown out with the hopes that while most will ignore the bait, some will be tempted into biting.The fake Hyundai Interview Call Letter circulating on the internet from quite some time now is one example. Here's the one I received a few days ago.

Few things to be noticed about it are:

- The mail is from some isep.ipp.pt instead of some hyundai.com or hyundai.co.in
- The letter does not address me by my name. Therefore it's a generalized mass email sent by spammers to hundreds of people hoping that a few would fall in trap.
- The mail asks me to make a security deposit of Rs.18K, which no such established organization will ever do.

So, in case you ever receive such a mail, do not fall for it. Rather mark it as spam to avoid receiving any further mails from them.

Another example is Fake Microsoft Job Offer Letter.

Many-a-times the purpose of such mails is identity theft as in the following cases.

Fake 'Abba Queens Hotel' Job Offer Mail

Fake Audi Promo Program

People claiming to make you millionaire

And, if you're on Twitter, you might want to read this, Don't Fall For Phishing On Twitter.