Noida police arrest cyber fraud in ₹78 lakh scam

NOIDA: The Noida cybercrime police have arrested a cyber fraudster for being allegedly involved in a large-scale investment scam that cost a woman ₹78 lakh, police said on Saturday.

The suspect, identified as Achal Verma, was apprehended from Hoshiarpur village in Sector 52, Noida late Friday following a tip-off, and intelligence gathering by the cybercrime team, officers said.

The case came to light in 2023 afterawoman from Noida filed a complaint stating that an unknown person had contacted her via WhatsApp, luring her into an online investment scheme. She was asked to complete certain online tasks to make huge returns. She ended up transferring a total of ₹78 lakh to various accounts linked to the suspect, they added.

“The accused lured victims with false promises and systematically defrauded them. Our team acted swiftly based on intelligence inputs, leading to the arrest of the key accused and the freezing of fraudulent funds,” said Preeti Yadav, deputy commissioner of police, cybercrime.

Following her complaint, a case was registered under Section 420 (cheating and dishonesty inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66D (cheating by personation using a computer resource) of the IT Act at the Noida cybercrime police station in 2023.

Investigations into the case revealed that the fraudulent money had been transferred into the bank Verma’s account. His account was actively used for cyber fraud and so far ₹10 lakh has been frozen in his bank account, police said.

Additionally, ₹30 lakh has already been recovered from other associated accounts. Efforts are underway to recover the remaining amount, police said.

More inquiries found that a total of 54 complaints were registered against Verma’s bank account across different states via the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP). He has also been found involved in another case under the cybercrime police station, Noida, police said.

Police are now working to trace and apprehend other members of the cyber fraud syndicate.

“Investigations are ongoing to track down other members of the syndicate and recover the remaining amount,” the DCP added.

Police have also advised victims of cyber fraud to report incidents immediately through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal.