Two members of a gang have been arrested here for allegedly defrauding people by making them pay hefty registration fees on the pretext of installing mobile towers on their properties, police said on Wednesday. A police officer said the scammers — Sarfaraz (36) and Munna Singh (37) — operated fake websites and ran deceptive online advertisements to make the victims believe that they were dealing with genuine telecom companies.
Police said that Sarfaraz, a graduate from a university in Bihar, was a skilled freelance website developer before turning to cyber fraud. The other accused, Munna Singh, a BCA, previously worked in IT companies in Noida and Gurugram but later took to scamming people online.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outernorth) Nidhin Valsan said investigators linked at least six cases to this gang, with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (i4C) looking into possible nationwide connections.
“The fraudsters ran a sophisticated racket by creating fake websites and running deceptive advertisements online. The victims, believing that they were dealing with telecom companies, were asked to pay registration fees. Once the payment was made, all communication ceased,” the officer said.
The scam came to light after a resident of Delhi’s Pooth Khurd complained to police that some people contacted him over the phone to install a mobile tower on his property.
According to the complaint, the victim paid Rs 1.85 lakh as registration fee and other charges and then realised that he had been scammed, the DCP said.
A team of police officials tasked with cracking the case tracked the accused through mobile numbers linked to bank accounts and hosting details of their fraudulent websites.
“Surveillance led the team to Sarfaraz in Delhi’s Samalkha. He was arrested on February 21. Further probe led to the arrest of Munna Singh from Mahavir Enclave in Delhi. Singh was responsible for running online advertisements that lured victims,” said the police officer.
The police recovered two mobile phones and four laptops while more than 50 websites linked to the scam were discovered, he said, adding further investigation was underway. PTI