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Innocent Indian man who found himself at the centre of a major fraud investigation after agreeing to ship off suspicious packages for an anonymous man on Gumtree blasts police for 'ruining his life' by sharing his photo online

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An Indian student claims his life has been ruined after he unknowingly committed fraud and became the focus of a police manhunt while working for Gumtree  

Mr Singh, who does not wish to be identified, had his pictures posted online by South Australia Police in relation to two incidents about suspected 'fraudulently obtaining laptops' on September 5.

He had been employed over Gumtree to collect and dispatch parcels. 

The statement showed Mr Singh as a buyer who picked up laptops from a parcel collection point at Melrose Park between July 14 and 30.

'Police are seeking assistance from the public to identify a man who is suspected of fraudulently obtaining two laptop computers,' the police statement said alongside two images of Mr Singh.

An Indian Gumtree seller had to plead his innocence after being shamed online and caught up in suspected fraud because police wrongly shared his photos

An Indian Gumtree seller had to plead his innocence after being shamed online and caught up in suspected fraud because police wrongly shared his photos

'Police are seeking assistance from the public to identify a man who is suspected of fraudulently obtaining two laptop computers,' the police statement said alongside two images of Mr Singh

'Police are seeking assistance from the public to identify a man who is suspected of fraudulently obtaining two laptop computers,' the police statement said alongside two images of Mr Singh

It was late revised to say: 'Police have identified the man captured on CCTV at a parcel collection point at Melrose Park. Investigations are continuing'. 

The 19-year-old then had to present himself at the Adelaide police station on Sunday to explain his 'innocence and ignorance'.

'My boss called me through an Australian phone number and paid me $60 per day for the days I collected and dispatched the parcels,' he told SBS. 

Mr Singh said the incident has 'severely impacted' his life and his mental health has deteriorated as a result of abuse on social media.

He has received derogatory remarks about his appearance and his religion, and Mr Singh's reputation within the Indian-Australian community has been 'tarnished'.

'It has ruined my life. This news had gone viral within our Sikh and Indian-Australian community. While the police have removed this post, it is still impacting me and my life. Many people have shared screenshots of the post on social media and WhatsApp,' the 19-year-old said.

While he understands why he may have been be a suspect, Mr Singh said 'it doesn't give random people the right to judge me and call me a criminal'.

Mr Singh said the incident has 'severely impacted' his life and his mental health has deteriorated as a result of abuse on social media (pictured)

Mr Singh said the incident has 'severely impacted' his life and his mental health has deteriorated as a result of abuse on social media  

South Australia Police has confirmed that they spoke to a 19-year-old in relation to 'two separate incidents of deception'.

'A media release and Facebook post was published on 5 September with an image of a suspect and a request for public assistance to identify the man depicted,' said a police spokesperson.'

'A number of comments on the Facebook post were deleted due to breaches of their standards.'

The spokesperson said the media release and Facebook post were removed after Mr Singh was identified. 

SA Police are still investigating the matter. 

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