The Delhi Police Crime Branch on Sunday claimed to have busted an international gang of cheats with the arrest of a Nigerian school dropout. Aikhomun A. Kelvin, a former photographer, had befriended a Delhi resident over social networking website Facebook before allegedly cheating her of Rs. 2 crore.
“Some African nationals, such as Kelvin, are running different cheating rackets known as Black Dollar scams by contacting people on Facebook using fake identities and posing as British nationals. They lure victims in different ways; these scammers have engaged some Indian women to make calls to their victims posing as Customs agents,” said Ravindra Yadav, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime).
Mr. Yadav said the gang’s modus operandi is to call the target informing them that his or her friend had been detained by Indian Custom authorities and demand money as fines for their release. Kelvin, the Crime Branch said, was the leader of one such organised racket. On November 22, 2013, the complainant received a call from someone claiming to be the Assistant Registration Officer (Customs) at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. She was asked if she knew Kelvin.
When complainant replied in the affirmative, the police said, the caller told her that Kelvin had arrived with diamond jewellery and money and had been detained at the Airport. As he was required to have an “anti-terrorism certificate”, the complainant was asked to transfer close to Rs. 2 lakh for his release.
