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Mohali: Conman who duped over 8,000 house hunters through online scam arrested
Targeted people from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal looking for rented accommodation; went off the grid after taking advance, say Mohali police
Balongi police have nabbed a Kharar-based conman who amassed crores by duping over 8,000 people searching for rented accommodation online.
Active for the past five years, the accused has been targeting people from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, mainly through online marketplace OLX.
After securing advance payment from them for rented properties, he would cease contact, leaving the victims at a loss.
As per police, as many as 8,138 complaints of fraud have been lodged pan India against his Google Pay accounts where the victims deposited money. Out of these, 22 complaints were lodged with Mohali police.
The accused has been identified as Paramjit Singh, 42, a resident of Amayra Greens, Khanpur Road, Kharar.
Police said despite Paramjit hailing from a modest background, transactions worth ₹1.44 crore had already been traced in his 10 bank accounts that have come to the fore so far.
Besides a Hyundai Verna and four mobile phones have also been recovered from him. He ran the scam through eight different SIMs.
SP (Rural) Manpreet Singh said, “The quantum of fraud is expected to rise further as many victims may not have lodged complaints against him. He used to take ₹5,000 to ₹15,000 as advance through Google Pay or other payment modes. Three of his 10 bank accounts have already been frozen by cyber police of different states. We are looking into his family background and his involvement in other criminal cases.”
The SP shared the accused’s arrest came following a probe into a complaint by a native of Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. The victim, Chand Rani, who works in the Industrial Area, Mohali, resides in Kharar with her paternal aunt and wanted to shift to her own accommodation.
“I contacted Paramjit who sent me photos of a property. I liked the house and transferred ₹15,000 in his account, including advance rent and one-month security, before realising that I was duped,” Rani had said in her complaint, following which police had lodged an FIR under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code on July 13.
Police said the accused was nabbed from Kharar after tracing IP addresses and using human intelligence.
Graduate lured victims with attractive rent deals
According to the police, Paramjit is an arts graduate by qualification and married.
He used to visit properties available for rent in the tricity, and click photos and videos that he would later upload on OLX and other websites.
“He posted the photos claiming that he owned the properties. Whenever victims, mostly students or those looking to shift from other cities, contacted him online, he would lure them with attractive rent deals. He would ask them to immediately transfer the advance, claiming that he was getting queries from many people due to low rent. After the victims would deposit the money, he would go off the grid,” SP (Rural) Manpreet Singh said.
Sources said Paramjit also had some accomplices who arranged photos of rental properties for him. They are also on police radar. A senior police officer said other than the 10 bank accounts in the name of the accused, he might be operating accounts in the names of his accomplices, who will be traced and arrested soon.
