Faridabad: Six arrested for ₹16.44 lakh digital arrest fraud, three held in ₹7.30 lakh Telegram task scam

Faridabad Police have arrested nine people in two major cyber-fraud cases involving “digital arrest” and fake Telegram task schemes.

Case 1: Digital arrest scam — Six accused arrested

A resident of Sector-86 lodged a complaint at the Cyber Police Station (Central) stating that on 28 April, he received a phone call from someone claiming to be from the Mumbai Crime Branch. The caller falsely told him that his PAN and Aadhaar numbers had been used in illegal transactions worth ₹6.5 crore, and that he was linked to a ₹5,000-crore scam.

The victim was then told that he had been “digitally arrested” and must stay inside his room and not speak to anyone. The fraudsters asked for details of all his bank accounts and instructed him to transfer the money from his accounts to accounts provided by them, promising that the money would be returned after “investigation”.

Believing them, the victim transferred ₹16.44 lakh.

Police registered a case and arrested the following six accused:

• Abhishek Kumar (Gopalganj, Bihar)

• Aman Soni (Amethi, UP)

• Ashutosh Rai (Simrauli, MP)

• Suraj Singh (Prayagraj, UP)

• Santosh Kumar (Ballia, UP)

• Jiaul Haq (Amethi, UP)

During questioning, police found that Suraj and Santosh were property dealers. Suraj shared Santosh’s bank account details with Abhishek through Instagram. The account was then passed on to Aman, Santosh and Jiaul Haq. These accused operated the accounts, withdrew the money and handed it over to the main fraudsters.

Suraj has been taken on three-day police remand, while the others have been sent to jail.

Case 2: Telegram task scam — Three arrested

In another case, a Sector-21C woman complained that she received a WhatsApp message on 29 April offering easy earnings by rating hotels, restaurants and cafés.

She was first given ₹100 for completing three simple tasks. After gaining her trust, the fraudsters asked her to pay for “prepaid tasks”. She sent ₹7.39 lakh to them. Later, they pressured her to take a ₹10 lakh task, but when she refused, they stopped responding and did not return her money.

Cyber Police Station (NIT) registered a case and arrested three accused:

• Shivam Rathore (Shastri Nagar, Delhi)

• Sandeep (Shastri Nagar, Delhi)

• Sameer (Railway Colony, New Delhi)

According to the police, Sameer owned the bank account where the money was deposited. He gave his account to his friend Shivam, who then passed it to Sandeep. Shivam and Sandeep work in mobile repair, while Sameer is pursuing a diploma in radiology.

Police have urged citizens to stay alert, avoid sharing personal or bank details with unknown callers, and remain cautious of schemes promising quick earnings.