KARACHI, Feb 5: Saddar has become the hub of acts of swindling, where not only pickpockets and quacks are active, but scores of other fraudsters have opened shops and are running illegal business under the garb of auction.

Those falling prey to the fraud are usually unedu-cated people with rural backgrounds.

Such shops are situated near Jahangir Park, Shahabuddin Market, Korangi bus-stop and the main Empress Market, where mostly electronic gadgets are not sold like in other shops, but offered through bidding.

Usually, the operators are seen busy making announcements through the public-address system and use other tactics to attract people.

The items in the shops are also staked in a way that the first-time visitor to the cannot resist the temptation to have them what he is made to believe at throw-away prices. The operators sometimes physically push people into the auction area, and pressure people into buying things through the action.

Inquiries show that the fake auctioneers hire a group of people who apparently take part in the bidding but their purpose is to trap other people.

During visits to the place on different days, one can easily recognise the same people standing there as customers, enticing the gullible to make as high a bid as they can afford.

If they don’t find a proper bidder, they buy the things themselves but don’t leave the place as if to buy some other items also.

These fake customers are usually jobless people and are hired at Rs150 to Rs250 a day. Some of them have become more expert at trapping people and are naturally get competitive wages.

They misbehave with and silence people who try to become smart and question the fairness of their business. Sometimes, these auctioneers offer sealed packets, which actually contain some cheap items, but they lure into buying them on many times higher than the actual prices.

When this correspondent tried to ask questions, the operators declined to talk about anything else but the items on sale. However, shopkeepers selling the same items in other shops say that this is a decades-old business and the items being auctioned are mostly second-hand ones purchased from thieves and robbers.

Law-enforcement agencies know about this thriving swindling business, but they seem to be reluctant to take action against them.