More than five thousand UK citizens were duped of millions of pounds by three Delhi men — all of them school dropouts. In an internet fraud spanning eight months, the three deceived unsecured loan seekers in the UK by promising them easy loans. They were finally nabbed by the elite special cell of Delhi Police, which had been alerted by the British High Commission four months ago.

The three — mastermind Yashin Nagpal, 28, along with Rajat Bhayana, 30, and Saurabh Gupta, 31 — had amassed about £10-12 million ( Rs. 88cr- Rs. 106cr).

All three were nabbed from their residences in north Delhi. Cops are now looking for two foreign accomplices.

Explaining their modus operandi, an investigating officer said they operated from a ‘self-established’ and ‘unauthorised’ international call centre in Pitampura. Twenty telecallers, who spoke fluent English with a British accent, were employed to dupe potential targets.

“Gupta procured personal details of UK-based loans seekers from websites and these details were then used by telecallers,” said the investigator.