Bengaluru:
Twelve men have been arrested for cheating people online, extorting money from them with the promise of jobs. The investigation started after the police received a complaint from a local, who claimed he has been duped and lost Rs 5 lakh.
The complainant said about a month ago, he got a phone text message from an unknown number that offered him a job. It said he had to complete projects working from home. Commission will be paid once a project is completed.
He registered on the platform as instructed and after completing the so-called project, received Rs 800. The men told him that to withdraw the balance of his payment, he had to register on another platform.
Bit by bit, they talked the man into transferring Rs 5 lakh into various bank accounts, enticing him with money to the tune of Rs 10.8 lakh.
Finally when they demanded another Rs 3,24,000, he grew suspicious and reported the matter to the police.
During their investigation, the police obtained KYC details from the Federal Bank’s Uttar Pradesh branch, where the money was transferred, and issued notices to the account holders.
One of them turned up for questioning and revealed that the account was opened on the instructions of a labor contractor in Mumbai, who had kept the passbook, ATM card, and SIM card.
The police found that the mastermind had opened multiple accounts under false names and paid each account holder Rs 1,500 as commission. Altogether, there were around 22 such accounts.
It was a well-planned work of a gang, the police concluded, after realising that the network of accounts were spread across multiple states.
One of the gang members arrested from Uttar Pradesh said he received Rs 18,000 to 20,000 commission for providing an account of a nationalized bank and Rs 3,000 for a local bank account.
On April 26, the police arrested 10 people from Varanasi, who confessed to their involvement.
From them, the police seized around 400 mobile SIM cards,140 ATM cards,17 cheque books, 27 mobile phones, 22 bank passbooks, a special binder book with income and expenditure records and Rs 15,000 in cash.
Altogether, 12 men have been arrested and are in Bengaluru.
