Fraudster luring people with online tasks arrested
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police have arrested an accused of duping people with promises of easy money through online tasks. The Cyber Police of Dwarka District detained him, the officials informed on Sunday.
The accused has been identified as Lakku Akhileshwar Reddy, was apprehended in Hyderabad, Telangana, and is linked to cheating around Rs 20 lakh from unsuspecting victims.
Ankit Singh, DCP Dwarka, said that the case came to light when Akshay Kumar Singh, a resident of Dwarka, Delhi, complained on November 27, 2023, via the NCRP portal. Singh alleged that on November 23, 2023, he received a message on Telegram regarding a part-time job. Following instructions from the accused, Singh invested Rs 20,16,640 in a fraudulent cryptocurrency website (https://faind.top) over two days. The accused then vanished, cheating Singh out of the entire amount.
Later, an FIR was registered on December 20, 2023, under sections 420/120B/34 IPC at Cyber Police Station, Dwarka. The investigation, led by SI Vikas Kumar, traced Rs. 14,30,000 of the cheated money to an ICICI bank account in the name of M/S HS1 Enterprises & Co., registered in Telangana. Further technical surveillance identified the account holder as Lakku Akhileshwar Reddy, who was subsequently arrested, DCP Dwarka said.
Reddy confessed to the crime and revealed the involvement of another individual named Shiva, who remains at large. Reddy was produced before the Dwarka Court and has been remanded to police custody for further investigation, Singh confirmed.
The accused targeted individuals by sending messages about part-time job opportunities. Upon receiving a positive response, they assigned tasks like restaurant reviews and sent small amounts of money to lure the victims. Subsequently, they offered lucrative prepaid tasks, convincing the victims to deposit money into various bank accounts with promises of high returns, which were never fulfilled. In this case, Reddy opened a fraudulent bank account and managed the transfer of Rs 14,30,000. He then handed over the account to his co-accused, Shiva, to further launder the money. The police are actively searching for Shiva, the official mentioned.
The operation was conducted under the overall supervision of DCP Ankit Singh and the close supervision of ACP Ram Avtar and SHO Jagdish Kumar. The team included Insp. Birender Singh, SI Vikas Kumar, and HC Parvesh.
Police recovered one mobile phone and one SIM card.
