‘iPhones for Rs 2.5K’: Cyber fraud hub busted in Hisar village, 2 held

Hisar: The Cyber Crime Police Station in Hisar busted an alleged online fraud racket operating from Bahbalpur village, and arrested two accused for cheating people through fake Instagram advertisements offering costly iPhones at throwaway prices. The accused allegedly lured victims into transferring money online but never delivered the promised mobile phones. The arrested accused were identified as Saurabh and Lucky, both residents of Bahbalpur village. They were produced before a local court, which remanded them to one-day police custody for further interrogation. ASP Mayank Mudgil said the cyber police received specific information on May 13 that the accused were involved in cyber fraud activities. Acting on the tip-off, the police team conducted a raid at the village, and found both accused engaged in suspicious online activities through mobile phones and laptops. During the search, the police recovered several mobile phones, iPhones, laptops, bank passbooks of different banks, ATM cards, scanners, electronic devices and cash amounting to Rs 10,040 from their possession. Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused were operating fake Instagram accounts displaying advertisements of expensive iPhones for as low as Rs 2,500. According to police, the accused used to attract customers through these fake profiles and initially demanded Rs 100 as booking charges. Later, they allegedly extracted more money from victims on the pretext of delivery charges and other fees by getting the amount deposited into multiple bank accounts. During questioning, the accused reportedly confessed that they never sent any actual mobile phones to customers, and only cheated them to grab money. Police said the accused used to create new fake Instagram IDs whenever old accounts were blocked following complaints. To avoid detection, they also allegedly used SIM cards obtained in the names of other persons. Police officials said further investigation is under way to identify more victims and possible links of the accused with a wider cyber fraud network. MSID: 131119359 413 |