'All Eggs Broken' Customer Uses AI To Fake Damage, Gets Refund From Instamart; Viral Post Angers Internet

A new and ''concerning'' trend is emerging on social media — one that several founders say is causing real financial losses for companies. People are now using AI to deliberately fake product damage to claim

refunds, and the edited images look so convincing that some platforms are reportedly falling for it.One such case was shared on LinkedIn by a founder and CEO Shreyas Nirmal, who described how a customer allegedly used AI to manipulate a photo of a tray of eggs ordered from Swiggy Instamart.According to Nirmal, the customer had received only one cracked egg. But instead of sending the real image, they used Gemini Nano to edit the photo and make it appear as if almost the entire tray was damaged.Note: Times now could not independently verify the authenticity of the post.He wrote, “How Gemini Nano AI Caused a Real Loss to Swiggy Instamart. A customer ordered a tray of eggs from Swiggy Instamart. In reality, only one egg was damaged. But instead of sending the original photo, the customer used Gemini Nano to edit the image. With one prompt, the AI automatically added cracks to almost all the eggs, making it look like the entire tray was ruined. The customer sent this AI-modified image to Instamart support. Since the current system (1) trusts photo proof, (2) does not detect AI-edited images, and (3) aims for quick resolution, the agent issued a full refund, believing the eggs were genuinely all broken.”Nirmal further explained why this trend is a serious concern: “Why this is a real problem: 1) AI tools like Gemini Nano make damage edits extremely realistic. 2) Companies like Instamart cannot yet identify AI-manipulated photos. 3) Even small refunds, when abused repeatedly, create direct financial losses. 4) If more customers misuse AI like this, refund fraud will rise and margins will drop. 5) This incident proves the issue is real, not hypothetical — AI manipulation directly caused Instamart to lose money on an order where only one egg was actually damaged.”He concluded by stressing that AI itself isn’t the villain — unethical use is, “AI is powerful and extremely useful. The real risk begins when tools like Gemini Nano are used unethically. This example shows how misuse can financially harm platforms like Swiggy Instamart, and the same threat applies to all quick-commerce and ecommerce companies.”The post has since been reshared on X (formerly Twitter), gaining traction across social platforms. Many users have criticised such consumer behaviour, calling it dishonest and harmful.

However, the original source of the incident — beyond the viral reposts — could not be independently verified.