12 arrested for cheating people in name of private companies

Police said they have busted three gangs cheating people on the pretext of selling them franchise and dealerships of several companies, including Shine.com, Shoppers Stop, Dabur India and Indiamart

The Delhi Police have busted three gangs and arrested 12 people from four states who were cheating people on the pretext of selling them franchise and dealerships of several companies, including Shine.com, Shoppers Stop, Dabur India and Indiamart.

12 arrested for cheating people in name of private companies

Deputy commissioner of police (Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations) Prashant Gautam said of the total 12, seven were arrested in the complaint lodged by Shine.com. He added the accused, identified as Shammi Alam Khan, Atul Dixit, Sardar Amit Singh, Monu Kumar alias Rajeev Ranjan, Sandeep Chaudhary, Gopal Kumar alias Sonu, Prem Dutt, cheated people on the pretext of offering them jobs on Shine.com.

According to the complaint, a few people had created websites with similar names such as www.learningshine.com, www.shine-02.com, www.webshinejob.com, www.shinerecruiter.com, www.shinecomplaints.com,www.resume-shine.com to trap and cheat people. The DCP said that the accused used to impersonate as company officials and duped job seekers and others who fell for their tricks.

With the help of technical surveillance and scrutinising bank details, investigators identified and apprehended the gang, officers who investigated the case said.

Shoppers Stop Limited had also alleged that some people were duping people by pretending to be associated with the company, and using a fake website www.shopperstop.co.in. They were offering franchise of the company fraudulently, an investigator said.

In this case, the police arrested a suspect named Priyansh Yadav from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

In its complaint, Dabar India Limited had reported various domain names and websites that were operating with the brand name Dabur such as www.daburdistributor.com, www.dapurfranchisee.in and https://daburdistributorships.in on which fraudsters were illegally offering distributorship of the company. The police have arrested two women identified as Kusum and Neelam from Delhi in this case.

Police said Indiamart had complained that some people used to impersonate as company officials and sought business in the name of the company. “In order to make their claims sound credible, the suspects shared fake employee IDs and approval letters bearing the company symbols with potential customers,” a third officer said.

The police have apprehended Mohammad Sami Shaikh alias Sameer and Sohaeb Abdulwafa Siddiqui -- both residents of Maharashtra -- in connection with the case.

Police officers added that three laptops, 20 mobile phones, SIM Cards, ATM cards and cheque books have been seized from the possession of the arrested suspects.