The Bengaluru police initiated a case on Monday against unidentified individuals for allegedly distributing deceptive messages that falsely represented an e-commerce platform, offering monetary rewards. These messages reportedly incapacitated the company’s communication infrastructure.
The cybercrime unit of the Whitefield division filed the First Information Report (FIR) following a complaint lodged by a representative of Hiveloop Technology Pvt Ltd (HTPL), part of the Udaan group, which operates as a business-to-business wholesale e-commerce service.
According to the FIR, the company began receiving notifications from customers on April 23, regarding SMS messages that seemed to be sent by “Udaan.” These messages claimed a credit of Rs 10,001 and included shortened links that, when clicked, allegedly redirected recipients to online betting or gaming sites, indicating a potential widespread cyber fraud scheme.
HTPL has refuted any involvement with these messages, asserting that its communication protocols are strictly governed by the distributed ledger technology (DLT) framework, regulated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). This system only allows the transmission of pre-approved message templates and whitelisted links through authorized channels.
However, on April 27, the DLT system marked HTPL’s SMS templates as misused, leading to the suspension of its sender ID “UDAANN.” Following this, telecom providers blocked all outgoing communications from the company, including essential one-time passwords (OTPs) and transaction notifications, severing its connection with customers. By the end of that day, HTPL’s entire DLT account was suspended after multiple complaints were reported through Trai’s Chakshu platform.
Consequently, the company has been unable to utilize its SMS services, severely disrupting its operations and customer engagement. HTPL has reported considerable financial losses and damage to its reputation, with at least 13 confirmed recipients of the fraudulent messages, though the actual number may be higher.
The police noted that this incident highlights the potential misuse of a government-regulated telecom framework.
Investigators are currently working to identify the source of the fraudulent messages. An officer stated, “We have registered a case and are conducting an investigation.”
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