Seven held for duping man of Rs 91 lakh: IFSO

NEW DELHI: The IFSO unit of the Special Cell of Delhi Police have arrested seven members of a cybercrime syndicate including one bank employee for cheating with multiple persons under the name of crypto trading.

The police were informed about the fraud through a complaint registered at the IFSO Police Station.

According to the Police, the investigation began with a complaint from Sachin Bansal, who reported being cheated out of Rs 91 lakh under the guise of receiving lucrative returns from stock and cryptocurrency trading.

Bansal was added to a WhatsApp group that offered stock recommendations. Persuaded by the group, he transferred Rs. 91 lakh across 19 different accounts. Following a preliminary inquiry, a case was registered under sections 419/420/120B IPC.

During the investigation, the involved bank accounts were frozen. Analysis revealed that an SBI account, registered under the name Gaurav Trading, had a balance of Rs. 46 lakh, which was seized.

The bank manager informed authorities that a notice to unfreeze the account had been received from a fake government email ID. Technical analysis confirmed that the notice was sent via ProtonMail.

A team led by Inspector Uday Singh and ACP Manoj Kumar used technical surveillance to identify and apprehend suspects Ajay and Mohit, leading to five more arrests, including an SBI employee. They seized seven phones, a Scorpio car, and Rs. 5.5 lakh in cash, and froze Rs. 80 lakh across multiple bank accounts. Ajay facilitated new accounts, Mohit collaborated, and SBI employee Shankar aided the syndicate. The group specialised in fraud, using fake government emails to unfreeze accounts. The mastermind, Dinesh, managed operations via WhatsApp.