Xiaomi uncovers fraudulent Mi Store scam; police investigation underway

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has uncovered a new scam where few retailers were duped into purchasing fake franchises of the company's Mi Stores. Xiaomi's global vice president and managing director of India operations, Manu Kumar Jain recently tweeted pictures of forged documents. Apparently, those documents incited few retailers into buying bogus franchises of Xiaomi Mi Stores.

"FRAUD ALERT! I have come across a scam where few retailers have been cheated into buying fake franchises of @XiaomiIndia Mi Stores! Shocking to see forged documents, with my fake signatures. We have filed a case with cybercrime department & police is investigating this matter," said Manu Kumar Jain via Twitter.

FRAUD ALERT! I have come across a scam where few retailers have been cheated into buying fake franchises of @XiaomiIndia Mi Stores!

Shocking to see forged documents, with my fake signatures.

We have filed a case with cyber crime department & police is investigating this matter. pic.twitter.com/AbK6Pvfbei

— Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain)

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In another tweet, Jain urged retail partners not to fall for such scams and instead get in touch with local Xiaomi teams.

My request to all retail partners: please do NOT fall for scams!

Anything related to Xiaomi, Mi Stores, products, prices etc.: please verify by contacting our local teams OR calling toll-free no.: 1800 103 6286 OR on https://t.co/pMj1r7lwp8 OR our official social media pages 🙏 https://t.co/tsCsuEnmji

— Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain)

Going by Jain's tweet, fraudsters were into providing retailers with a fake dealership agreement spanning five years. For the sales of the TVs, mobile phones, accessories and all other related products of Xiaomi. Another fake document disguised as genuine invoice receipt reveals fraudsters have been charging as much as Rs 15,200 (including 18 per cent GST) as Mi Store registration processing fee.

Having started as an online-only smartphone seller, Xiaomi has set up many brick and mortar stores in the last couple of years. The company wants to have a 'China-like' Mi offline presence in India too. Over the years, Xaiomi has grown its portfolio of products beyond smartphones, the company recently launched Mi shoes too and it only makes sense for the company to continue to expand its offline presence in a big way.