Monday, 17 JUNE 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) has apprehended a Nigerian man who is believed to be the mastermind behind a gang that has conned people across the country through phishing scams. The gang posed as fake customs officials and used identity theft and other methods to carry out their fraudulent activities, the STF senior superintendent of police Ayush Agrawal said. He said that a woman from Dehradun had registered a complaint at the cyber crime police station stating that an unknown man contacted her through Facebook and WhatsApp claiming to be Dr William Riker, a gynaecologist in the USA. He allegedly lured the victim and told her that he was sending US$ 25,000, some gift items including a bracelet, jewellery, mobile phone, watch, purse and other valuable items from abroad in a parcel for her. The accused and his gang allegedly informed the victim about the parcel claiming to be from the Customs department in Delhi and lured her to pay a total of 13.61 lakh in different bank accounts in the name of converting US dollars into Indian currency. Based on the victim’s complaint, the STF’s Cyber Police registered a case against the unknown accused. The team started the investigation by analysing the mobile numbers and bank accounts of the unknown accused provided by the victim. The STF found out that the culprits in this case were present in Delhi. Considering this, the teams were sent to all possible places in Delhi and after a long search, they nabbed the accused who was a Nigerian man. The team also recovered two passports, four mobiles, one laptop and a charger from the accused’s possession. The SSP said that the accused told the STF that he and his gang dupe people by posing as gynaecologists or doctors and befriend them through social platforms. They work on gaining their trust and then cheat them in the name of sending them gifts from abroad including foreign currency. The STF is working to nab other accused too. Agrawal also appealed to the public not to make online transactions with unknown people for quick gains. If one becomes a victim of such scams, register a complaint in the nearest police station or contact at cyber helpline number 1930 immediately as maximum complaints against culprits by the victims can help the authorities to nab them sooner, he added.
