New Delhi: The Cyber Cell of the Delhi Police has busted a cyber fraud gang that swindled a woman out of Rs 17.29 lakh through fake online tasks shared via Telegram.
The police were informed about the fraud through a complaint registered at the Cyber Police Station North.
According to the police, five individuals, including a woman handling cryptocurrency transactions, have been arrested in the case. Police also uncovered an illegal operation where personal loans worth 8.8 lakh rupees were fraudulently obtained in the victim’s name from two banks.
The victim, a resident of Burari, Delhi, had been seeking employment when she was lured into a work-from-home scam that required her to perform bogus online tasks in exchange for promised commissions.
Investigations revealed the defrauded amount was funneled into mule accounts, converted into the cryptocurrency USDT (Tether), and laundered through a Telegram-based network.
A police team led by SI Sumit Kumar, under the supervision of SHO Rohit Gahlot and ACP Hemant Kumar Mishra, conducted technical surveillance and financial trail analysis, leading to simultaneous raids across Delhi. This led to the arrest of Krish (19), Deepak @ Sunny (23), Gaurav (27), Manthan (19), and Nidhi Agarwal (47), all residents of Delhi.
Krish, the operational mastermind, managed UPI IDs and coordinated with a Telegram crypto buyer channel “ATpay.”
Nidhi Agarwal, dubbed the “Crypto Queen,” admitted to illegally converting cash into USDT using an international WhatsApp number.
Deepak sourced bank accounts, while Gaurav and Manthan facilitated account usage and cash handovers.
The police recovered six mobile phones, SIM cards, a cheque book, ATM card, crypto transaction screenshots, and digital evidence.
Further investigations are underway to identify more associates and recover the remaining defrauded money, as authorities unravel an international nexus of digital fraud and unlicensed cryptocurrency dealings.