Antique collectors raise alarm over online fraud

A photograph of an apparently rare antique, accompanied by an unusually low price, can be enough to draw an unsuspecting buyer into an online transaction. But for Keralam’s antique collectors, such offers are increasingly becoming a warning sign as fraudsters exploit the growing online market to sell replicas, refurbished objects or, in some cases, nothing at all.

In the wake of the increasing number of online cheating cases, experienced antique collectors have called for utmost vigil while dealing with unverified online offers for buying and selling antiquities. They have also flagged the increasing number of exclusive social media groups run by anonymous admins to carry out fraudulent trades.

P. Radhakrishnan, an antique collector from Kuzhalmannam in Palakkad, says the most common online trick is the misuse of genuine photographs and videos of rare antiques. According to him, fraudsters steal images of antiques from genuine collectors and repost them on platforms controlled by them, offering the objects at prices low enough to attract buyers.

“Showing these images and videos, they quote a very low price to attract buyers,” he says. The trap, according to him, often closes when an interested buyer contacts the seller. An advance payment is sought in the name of booking the object, after which the seller allegedly disappears. In other cases, cheap or unrelated objects are delivered.

Badayakandy Basheer, a 70-year-old collector in Kozhikode, has experienced the risk himself. After responding to an online offer for an old carpet and making the payment, he says, he received only a piece of an old carpet instead of the object shown in the advertisement. “Similar incidents continue to happen everywhere,” he says.

The online market has also widened the space for replicas and heavily refurbished objects. Mr. Basheer says manufacturing units producing replicas of antique objects are also a concern, particularly when buyers do not consult experienced collectors before making expensive purchases.

R.K. Mohan, a collector of vintage music systems in Kannur, says bronze utensils and other traditional objects require particular caution these days. “No antique product should be purchased without thoroughly examining it directly. There should also be consultations with expert collectors before buying costly items,” he says.

Complaints have also surfaced about fraudulent online sales of items that have undergone extensive repairs or had their original components replaced. Though restoration itself is a legitimate practice in the conservation of antiques, the concern is whether the extent of restoration, provenance and previous ownership are accurately disclosed to buyers.

Many antique collectors complain that the police have yet to pay attention to the trickery taking place in the sector. Though Indian law regulates the sale of antiquities under the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972, nobody is concerned with enforcing it, they argue. But, the police counter the allegations.

“Keralam’s experience with the alleged sale of fake antiquities was highlighted by the 2021 case involving Monson Mavunkal, who was accused of passing off purported historical artefacts as genuine. However, the vigil shown by many after that incident has almost vanished in Keralam,” says a senior police officer with the Crime Branch. For collectors, the safest starting point is therefore to treat claims of rarity, age and provenance as claims to be verified, rather than as proof of authenticity, he adds.