In a surgical strike, four individuals were arrested from Patna for committing fraud in the name of offering company franchises and conducting fake lucky draws through a fabricated website. The gang, active for the past year, defrauded people in various states, amounting to crores of rupees. The accused were found in possession of 14 mobile phones, 1 laptop, 18 SIM cards, 2 fake stamps of State Bank, 4 other stamps, 304 addressed envelopes, 900 lucky draw coupons, and 93 offer forms. Haryana Director General of Police Shatrujeet Kapur stated that Haryana Police is strategically working to combat cybercrime in the state. Manpower has been doubled to respond quickly to complaints received through the cyber helpline number 1930. Haryana Police and bank nodal officers are collaborating to freeze cyber fraud funds more effectively.
Panipat district SP Ajit Singh Shekhawat revealed that the accused had defrauded a youth of Rs 6.60 lakh online by creating a fake website and falsely offering a company franchise. The Cyber Crime Police Station initiated an investigation, leading to the arrest of the four accused from Patna.
The gang leader, B.Sc pass accused Ajit (name changed), along with fellow BCA pass accused Sumit Bharti (name changed), initiated a fraudulent sporting goods company by creating a fake website..ASP Shri Mayank Mishra explained that Ajit, being technically competent, had significant knowledge about software. Accused Sumit promoted the fake website through advertisements to ensure it appeared higher on Google than the authentic website. The accused defrauded people across different states by pretending to offer company franchises and conducting fake lucky draws.
Mishra explained that, in addition to the fake website, the gang was also involved in lucky draws. They were active in committing online fraud even under the guise of prize distribution. Accused Sunil and Shyam used to deceive people by making phone calls, posing as satisfied customers of telecom companies like Vodafone, Airtel, Jio, etc., and informing them about the draw coupon scheme. After reaching an agreement with the customer and obtaining details such as their name and address, the accused would send the form along with the draw coupon through courier to the provided address.
Upon the customer calling the given numbers after scratching the coupon and claiming prizes such as SUVs, Maruti cars, or bikes, the accused would commit fraud by depositing money in the account under the pretense of tax and processing fees. If a customer requested to receive money instead of the prize, the accused would print fake tax details on paper, affix a counterfeit SBI Bank seal, and send it via WhatsApp. They would deceive the customer by claiming that the amount had been approved by the bank and ask them to deposit 10 percent tax. This was a common practice employed by the gang, based in Patna, Bihar, to defraud people online across different states.
The police recovered from the possession of the accused 14 mobile phones used in the crime, 1 laptop, 18 SIM cards, 2 fake stamps of State Bank, 4 other stamps with names and addresses written on them, 304 envelopes, 900 lucky draw coupons, 93 offer forms, and 5 notebooks (after recovering the copy). After interrogating the accused, the four were presented in court on Monday, from where they have been sent on police remand. During the remand, the police will attempt to recover the defrauded amount from the accused and trace the whereabouts of their absconding co-accused involved in the gang. Many more incidents of online fraud are likely to be revealed by the accused.
