12 held for duping cyber fraud victims through fake websites

They swindled ₹1.74 cr. in last one year

Twelve people, including two women, have been arrested for allegedly posing as government officials and cheating cyber fraud victims through an online redressal system. The accused have managed to swindle ₹1.74 crore in the past one year, the police said on Friday.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crime) K.P.S. Malhotra said that the accused were targeting individuals who were already cheated online. When these individuals try to lodge a complaint for the cyber fraud, they would hit the fake websites created by the accused, which had a similar nomenclature as the original website. “The fraudsters employed search engine optimisation to get these websites reflected on the search query,” Mr. Malhotra said.

The police said they had received a complaint where the complainant alleged that while he was trying to report an incident of cheating, he came across a website

www.jansurkashakendara.in . When the complainant called on the mobile phone number provided on the website, they informed him that they were the authorised persons working with the Government and they would lodge his complaint.

“On the pretext of lodging and investigating his complaint, the alleged people charged ₹2,850. Once the payment was done, they blocked the number of the complainant,” the DCP said.

Officers found similar complaints registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting portal. Further investigation revealed that the fraudsters have received ₹1.74 crore in the past one year.

With the help of technical surveillance, the 12 persons were arrested and it was revealed that they have created a website and attracted the cyber crime victims. “They have also created some more similar websites with names Jan Shikayat Kendra, Grahak Suraksha Kendra, Nyaya Bharat and others,” Mr. Malhotra said.

Police further clarified that the government portal to report cybercrime is https://www.cybercrime.gov.in/ and no charges or processing fee is levied for lodging complaint for lawful action.