New Delhi:
Delhi Police have busted a major cyber fraud network involved in transactions worth over Rs 30 crore as it arrested seven people in connection with an online shopping scam that came to light following a complaint by a Delhi University student, officials said on Monday.
The investigation began after Fatima, a student of Ramjas College at Delhi University and a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj, reported being cheated of Rs 6,450 through an Instagram shopping advertisement. The complaint was registered on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), following which an FIR was registered at the Cyber Police Station, North District, on September 4.
According to the complaint, the student came across an advertisement for a kurti on an Instagram account named 'Kavya_kurti_hub'. She was redirected to a WhatsApp number, where she placed an order worth Rs 799 and paid Rs 400 in advance through a QR code.
Subsequently, she received a call regarding parcel delivery and was asked to provide a passcode. The seller then induced her to make additional payments on the pretext of generating the code and processing a refundable charge. She transferred Rs 1,150, Rs 2,000, Rs 2,650 and Rs 650 in separate transactions. However, neither the parcel was delivered nor the money refunded.
During the investigation, police analysed nearly 200 mobile numbers, IMEI numbers, banking transactions, and digital records obtained from platforms and service providers, including Flipkart, Zomato and Blue Dart.
The investigation traced the cheated money through Pine Labs Merchant to a Canara Bank account linked to Kizentech Solutions Pvt. Ltd. in Greater Noida.
Following extensive technical surveillance, police conducted coordinated raids in Greater Noida on October 16 and arrested six accused: Aditya Mishra, Ayush Verma, Abhishek Pal, Himanshu Rana, Rahul Kumar, and Gaurav Pandey. Another accused, Udit Pratap Singh Bhadauriya, was arrested from Kanpur on October 21.
Police said the investigation had so far linked 27 cyber fraud complaints from different states to the network. Approximately 25 bank accounts allegedly opened in the names of fictitious firms and individuals were found to have been used to route the proceeds of cybercrime.
During interrogation, investigators found that the accused allegedly established firms and opened current bank accounts, which were subsequently supplied to other members of the syndicate for monthly payments and commissions. Pandey, an MBA graduate, allegedly played a key role in arranging and supplying bank accounts to cyber fraudsters.
Police also recovered 20 mobile phones, 45 SIM cards, 39 point-of-sale (POS) machines, 33 debit cards, 28 cheque books, 15 scanners, two laptops, five stamps, seven Aadhaar cards, five PAN cards and 21 bank-related documents.
The operation was conducted by a team led by SI Arvind Yadav under the supervision of senior North District police officers.
Police said further investigation was underway to identify additional members of the network and establish links with other cyber fraud cases.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)