On October 5, two young women in Bengaluru called Tonique — touted to be one of the largest liquor stores in Asia — after searching for the store’s number on Google. Though their query was on whether the store was open, the person who picked up the call said it was their lucky day as the store was doing home delivery. He sent them a QR code, upon scanning which the women lost Rs 15,000. Soon they discovered that the number did not belong to Tonique at all — they had been scammed. When TNM dug into the story, we found that they were not the only victims of the scam.
Over 50 people from Bengaluru and Hyderabad have lost money after contacting fake numbers listed for Tonique on Google since 2020, when the COVID-19 lockdown began. Customers who contacted the fake numbers have been scammed of thousands of rupees — and even Rs 4.5 lakh in one case.
According to the store management in Hyderabad, as many as eight people complained that they lost money to scamsters, following which the company approached the police and the Cyber Crime Department. In their complaint, Tonique said that “these imposters collect funds from our customers before delivering the order and never deliver the liquor”. GLN Das, General Manager (Operations) of Tonique, said that when they tried calling one of the numbers, the scamster at the other end of the line introduced himself as part of Tonique and offered to deliver alcohol to Das after receiving payment, and provided details for the same.
Usually, scamsters modify the coordinates of a company on Google and then use Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) methods to make sure that these fraudulent numbers and websites are listed right at the top of search results. The numbers fraudulently listed for Tonique change every week or so, and so does the website. “The numbers change every two weeks. We have written to Google and approached the police. Just as one number is taken down, another pops up,” Das said.
But it’s not just the number listings. Tonique management has stumbled upon at least 18 fraudulent store websites. While the actual website address is www.tonique.in, many other sites have popped up including toniquebangalore.in, toniquewines.in and toniquewinesbengaluru.in.
Tired of fraudsters, the Tonique website has this message prominently displayed: “We do not have any online platforms for home delivery facilities. Please beware of fraudsters.” However, several fake Tonique websites still appear on Google search.
Screengrab from the complaint
“This was a big learning for us,” said Poorva J, the Bengaluru resident who along with her friend lost Rs 15,000 to the scam. Speaking to TNM, she said that everything about the number that she called seemed legitimate. “The person who picked up sounded very convincing. He said he was from Tonique, his WhatsApp display picture was the Tonique logo. When you read about such fraud, you think it can’t be so easy to get scammed. But it is really easy,” Poorva added.
Speaking to TNM, Poorva said that she called the fraudulent number to order a few beers, and the person on the end instructed her to send Rs 800 via Google Pay. He then sent a QR code, which he said would generate a bill upon scanning. However, when she tried scanning it, she received a message saying the transaction did not go through. He then sent another QR code, which said the amount was around Rs 4,500. The man said that this payment would be reversed, and instructed Poorva to enter her PIN to generate the bill. The amount was debited, and the man claimed that this was a mistake, and sent another QR code through which he said she could register. Poorva’s friend scanned this QR code, after which close to Rs 10,000 was debited from her account. When they tried calling the number back, the man verbally abused the two women and later blocked their numbers, and when they tried calling from different phone numbers, the man blocked those as well.
After Tonique filed a complaint in May 2022, investigation by the Cyber Crime unit of the Hyderabad police revealed that all the numbers originate from villages in north India. Poorva checked the number she called and she now believes it could have been someone located in Odisha.
Over the past two years, there have been several complaints of people losing money to scamsters while trying to order liquor, not just to fake Tonique numbers but with other leading liquor outlets as well.
However, very few come forward to report it to the police. Nandish, the manager of Tonique in Bengaluru, told TNM that not many of the affected have filed complaints with the police, as it requires them to furnish details about their bank accounts.
Based on the company’s complaint to the Cyber Crime cell of the Hyderabad police, officials have registered a case under Sections 469 (forgery), 419 (cheating by personation) and 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code, as well as Section 66 D of the IT Act.
In 2020, an advisory was issued by the Hyderabad police after a man lost a whopping Rs 92,000 to scamsters who promised to deliver liquor to his home during the lockdown. It is to be noted that Karnataka had allowed home delivery of alcohol during the COVID-19 lockdown, while the Telangana government has been staunchly against the online sale of liquor in the state.