Gang of six led by IT engineer dupes scores via fake sites

Police teams were dispatched to Bihar and West Bengal to apprehend the accused. Pic/Suresh Karkera

A gang of six people has been arrested for duping thousands of people to the tune of Rs 10 crore through around 125 websites of different companies, especially government subsidiaries. Among other things, the gang would lure people through social media on the pretext of giving distributorship for LPG. The mastermind of the gang is an IT engineer who would create the fake websites.

"The fraudsters have made 125 fake websites of companies such as Bajaj Finserv, Snapdeal, Naaptol, Reliance Power and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited," said Milind Bharambe, the joint commissioner of police (crime).

Through just two fake websites related to LPG, the accused cheated more than 10,000 people. On December 15, the Cyber Cell had received a complaint from one Arun Kumar Sinha, stating that he had been duped of Rs 3.5 lakh on the pretext of a HPCL distributorship. Sinha accessed the fake website of the petroleum company through an ad on social media.

Investigation of the money trail led to the gang operating from Patna in Bihar, and from West Bengal. Two teams were dispatched, and two people, including one woman, were held in Bihar. "After the arrest, we got to know the fraudsters have cheated thousands using various modus operandi on social media. They would call people with business proposals or offer easy loans. The gang would also send forms to fill via WhatsApp when they were duping people with the offer of distributorship," Bharambe added.

The customers were asked to make a part payment of 50 per cent to be eligible for allotment. "Every customer was asked to pay around R6 lakh to Rs 7 lakh as part payment," said Bharambe.

Further investigation revealed that the mastermind of the scam is an IT engineer who used to recce websites of trending companies before creating fake ones.

"The accused are well-educated. They have also created a call center in Patna to make calls for loan offers," Bharambe added. Cyber police have urged citizens to approach them if they have been duped by such websites.

Rs 7 lakh
Approx. amount they took from each customer as part payment