2 held from Punjab for faking spiritual healers, duping people online

Two men from Punjab were arrested for running an online scam, duping over 2,000 people by offering fake spiritual remedies and rituals.

Two people have been arrested from Punjab for allegedly running an online spiritual remedy racket and duping people of their money in the name of resolving problems through special rituals and remedies, police said on Friday.

2 held from Punjab for faking spiritual healers, duping people online

The accused were identified as a 21-year-old with a mechanic diploma and another of the same age with a graduate degree, both residents of Rajasthan. They had allegedly created several fake social media accounts using fictitious names and photographs of women to trap emotionally vulnerable people and influence them, said deputy commissioner of police (central) Rohit Rajbir Singh.

“More than 2,000 people across the country were found interacting with the accused. Five smartphones containing fake profiles, chats and QR codes and other incriminating digital evidence were recovered from them,” said Singh.

According to the DCP, the arrests followed a probe into a cheating case registered at the central district’s cyber police station earlier this year, where the complainant, duped of ₹2.51 lakh, told the police that he was emotionally manipulated by the scammers and tricked into transferring the money into their account for performing special rituals.

The financial transaction trails were examined, and the suspects were traced to a flat in Kharar, Mohali, and were held during a raid, the DCP said.

Police said the suspects were operating a well-organised cyber fraud syndicate under the banner “All Problems Solutions” through fake social media profiles named as “Zaynab Khan”, “Muskan Khan”, “Kavita Chaudhary”, “Zara Khan” and “Islam Wzifa”. Through these profiles, they used to post fake success stories, claiming a “spiritual healer” was solving the problems.

“When the victims messaged them online for help, the accused would share their own WhatsApp number and take money in instalments for rituals, pooja materials, and spiritual practices,” he added.