An IIT postgraduate has been arrested for allegedly running a fake website carrying pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and duping people in the name of a free laptop scheme on the occasion of formation of the new government, the police said on Sunday.
Rakesh Jangid (23), an IIT postgraduate of the 2019 batch, was arrested from his hometown Pundlota in Rajasthan’s Nagaur district, they said.
15 lakh registered
The fake website offering the bogus scheme was promoted using instant messaging apps and the messages became viral on WhatsApp, the police said. Over 15 lakh people got themselves registered within two days, they said.
They also said that the accused used fake promotional multimedia message with ‘Make in India’ logo and picture of the Prime Minister on the website to lure people to register themselves for getting free laptops.
He also intended to capture personal data of millions of citizens in the name of registration and use that for illegal monetary gains.
The Cyber Crime Unit of the Delhi Police, CyPAD, were informed that someone had created and hosted a website by the domain name www.modi-laptop.wishguruji.com. It was allegedly promising distribution of millions of free laptops on the occasion of the formation of Mr. Modi’s new government, a senior police officer also said.
A criminal case under the IT Act was registered and an investigation was taken up. Technical assistance from labs of CyPAD was also taken, he said.
During interrogation, the accused disclosed that he had created the website to earn web advertising revenue from increased website traffic. He was aiming to procure personal data of millions of people which could be later traded to various cyber criminals to cheat the victims and extort money from them on various pretexts, the senior officer said.
The accused had cleverly used Google Adsense, a programme that allows bloggers and website owners to make money by displaying Google ads, he said.
Though Jangid was offered a job in a private company in Hyderabad, he took to crime to make easy money, the officer added.
Probe on
The police said that investigation into the matter is under way, adding that efforts are being made to identify the involvement of others in the scam.
