Franchise or dealership offer in a well-known brand's name
A website copies a famous brand and offers a franchise or dealership for an application and security fee.
Community reports: 0
How it works
- A website, ad or email made to look like a well-known brand's offers you a franchise or dealership, such as a fuel station, gas agency, food outlet or courier centre.
- After an easy "approval", you receive an official-looking letter and are asked for a registration fee, then a security deposit, NOC or agreement charges.
- The money goes to personal or unrelated accounts, and when you contact the real company, it has no record of you.
What it looks like
Example messages. Numbers and links are masked.
Congratulations! Your application for dealership has been approved. Kindly pay Rs 25,500 registration fee within 48 hours to the account below to confirm your location.
Apply now for a gas agency distributorship: brand-dealership-apply[.]in. Low investment, high profit, no experience needed.
Red flags
- Approval without visits, checks or interviews
- Web address slightly different from the brand's
- Fees to a personal or unrelated account
- Only 24 or 48 hours to pay
- Emails from a free email address
The one question to ask
Did you confirm this offer on the brand's own website and phone number, not the ones they gave you?
Already paid or shared details?
Call 1930 at once: in the first hour the money can often still be frozen before it moves on. Then call your bank on the number printed on your card, and file a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in with screenshots of every message and payment.
1930 · cybercrime.gov.in
Also seen as
- Fake gas agency distributorship letters
- Fast-food or cafe franchise in a famous name
- Courier or delivery partner franchise